Dahlia: The Muggleborn Dursley
by Noel Ardnek
Summary: I used to hate Harry Potter with a passion, and I used to care about what my parents said. Though that was before I was shown kindness from the object of my intense hate and disdain from my own family. Merlin my life is screwed up. R
1. Why I Sort Of Like Harry Potter

**Dear People of the World, or whoever's even bothering to read this, I have created yet another Harry Potter fanfic, and let me tell you…I am a wreck. So far I don't think any of my previous HP fanfics have been all that good, but this idea has just been stuck in my head, so I'm going for it. **

**Also, I want to change to the title so any suggestions would be helpful. **

**Disclaimer: I own Dahlia, or DD, only.**

**Enjoy! : )**

**Why I Sort Of Like Harry Potter**

Hello there. My name is Dahlia. Dahlia Petunia Dursley, or as everyone except my parents call me DD. My parents are Petunia and Vernon Dursley, and I have a fat older brother named Dudley. You may or may not know it, but my cousin is Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and all that. My entire family hates him, but not me, at least not completely.

Perhaps that needs an explanation.

Before I was six, I was a very different person than I am now. I was overweight like my brother and Father because of my Mother's constant pampering, I threw temper tantrums every day because the tiniest thing set me off, and most of all I treated Harry just as horribly as the rest of my family. My parents always made sure to tell me that he deserved no sympathy or pity from their treatment of him because he was a "freak", and to demolish any sort of fascination with magic. I just followed what they said and often accompanied Dudley is torturing Harry. To this day I'm still apologizing to him.

Though no matter how awful I was to him, he never fought back. I mean that he did occasionally snarl back comments, and maybe that was because he was afraid of my parents, but he never hit me. He was never cruel to me for no apparent reason. I suppose it's because he's a good person.

I only realized this one day when we went to the park. Mother and Father didn't want to go, but since Dudley and I both threw a hissy fit about it, they conceded, grudgingly bringing Harry along as they couldn't very well leave him in the house alone. Though I think that's because Mother didn't trust him not to break something.

At the park I remember clearly that while I was going down the big slide and Dudley was playing tag with his friends, Harry was sitting all by himself at the swings. None of the other kids wanted to play with him because even back then they knew that he was different. We shared at least that in common. It seemed that kids tried to avoid me too, though I could never remember why.

When Dudley dragged me into a game of hide-and-seek, we started to play in a nearby forest. It wasn't all that deep, but for a six year old it may as well have been the Amazon. I was the seeker, and I looked everywhere for Dudley and his friends, little did I know that they had all led me in the wrong direction and were laughing at me in the park. Even back then Dudley was a complete ass.

Make a mental note that back then I was extremely clumsy, mostly because I was never concerned about where I was going. So naturally I stumbled over a tree root and sprained my ankle, though at the moment I thought I had completely severed it. I cried for my parents, for anyone really, but no one came. Maybe it's because I was too far away for them to hear, or perhaps Dudley heard me but thought it funny that I was crying.

I'm not sure how long I sat there crying, but eventually someone came, though not who I expected. Coming towards me was Harry, who looked warily at me, as if contemplating whether or not to help me. At the time I wasn't sure I wanted his help. But I was desperate, so I eventually started crying for him to help me. At first he just stood there, he later told me that it was because he didn't know how to approach me, but eventually got two pieces of bark and tying them to my ankle with his shoe laces. Then he helped me walk all the way back to the park, me crying the whole time but Harry didn't say a word.

When we got back Mother was completely hysterical and Father began yelling at Harry, obviously thinking that he was the cause of my injury when Dudley tried blaming him for it. I told them that it wasn't Harry, but Dudley who was the reason I was hurt. I'm still not sure if they believed me or not, but they didn't punish Harry. They didn't punish Dudley for that matter either.

After we got home from the doctors, I talked to Harry in his room, aka the cupboard under the stairs. When I asked him why he did it, he just said it was because he heard me crying and wanted to help. Even when I pointed out that I wouldn't have helped him if the situation was reversed, he said that he helped because we were family, and even if I wasn't he would still have helped me out.

Ever since then, I tried to change nearly everything about myself. I stopped eating as much (a nearly impossible task mind you), I started keeping my temper tantrums at a minimum, but most of all I started to like Harry. While I wasn't best friends with him or anything, I at least tried to be civil with him as long as he was with me. Secretly during the beginning of my reform I waited for him to slip up, I wanted him to act un-saintly to me; so that it would justify any rudeness I sent his way. I only allowed myself to be mean to him if he was mean to me first. He never was.

Everyone noticed my change, especially Mother. I knew she wouldn't approve of my friendliness towards Harry, and back when I cared about what she thought I did my best to disguise my actions. When Mother asked why I wasn't eating as much, I said I was trying to watch my weight to look like her. When she asked why I seemed so friendly to Harry, I told her that I was simply showing pity for his "freakishness".

Everything was normal, or as normal as it could be. At least until Harry got his first letter.

**Please review. Reviews, especially good ones, are like the Harry Potter convention. I geek out. **

**Bye! **


	2. Harry's First Letter Caused A Lot of Pro

**Pics of Dahlia on profile! **

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Harry's First Letter Caused A Lot of Problems**

It was on the day of Dudley's birthday that things got crazy. Dudley, being his usual obnoxious self, woke me up by screaming in my ear that it was his birthday, earning him a pillow in the face. He then ran off to torment Harry about it, and I got dressed and did my hair, putting on a yellow bow with white polka dots. I wore a frilly white dress Mother thought would look lovely on me, even though I hated it. However it was Dudley's birthday and everything had to be perfect. Mother always had a bit of a problem with perfection, and scorned anything that didn't fit that description.

I walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen where there was a mountain of presents there, all huge and with colorful wrappings. Mother babied Dudley and when she saw me said "Good morning darling. How did you sleep?" This was before she saw me as a freak.

"Good Mummy." I said with a smile. Mother and I had a strong relationship, as she would coddle me and almost worship me because I was her daughter while I craved the attention. I still remember her as the tall, very thin woman with a long neck and an angular face, though with all of that I used to think that she was the most amazing person in the world. Used to.

Though the one thing we could never agree on was that I had to serve Dudley and Father, an act that later on would be a heated subject of debate between us.

She then looked at Harry liked he was an insect. "Why don't you just cook breakfast and try not to burn anything?"

"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry said still in his pajamas which were just hand-me-downs from Dudley so they were too big for him.

"Good morning Harry." I said with a smile and he smiled back, returning the greeting.

Mother had seen our exchange and pursed her lips, but didn't say anything, thus returning her attention to Dudley by covering his eyes while leading him to the presents. "I want everything to be perfect, for my Dudley's special day."

"Hurry up!" Father barked at Harry as he served up the ham with a hungry look in his eyes. At the time I didn't know what my parents were doing to him, but now I recognize malnourishment when I see it. "Bring my coffee boy!"

"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry said without looking up.

"Come here sweetie-pie." Father said smiling and I bounced over and he put me in his lap. Back then whenever Father did that I would always think that he was a bit like Santa Claus, always giving Dudley and me whatever gifts we wanted, and he had a nice round belly to show off. The only difference is that Santa didn't give coal to nasty kids.

With a gasp Mother took her hands off of Dudley's eyes and clapped her hands together. "Aren't they wonderful?"

But Dudley wasn't pleased. He was hardly ever satisfied. He turned to Father "How many are there?"

"36. Counted them myself." Father said proudly but this only resulted in one of Dudley's famous temper tantrums.

"36? But last year-last year I had 37!" Dudley shouted as if Father had told him that they were sending him to military school. Merlin I wished that they had sent them to military school. Harry and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes at Dudley's behavior. I knew Harry had it worse because he never got any presents, well except from me but they were small and given in secret.

"Ah-ah yes well some of them are bigger than last year's." Father tried to reason.

"I don't care how big there are!" Dudley shouted.

"Now-now-now, this is what we're going to do." Mother started. "W-When we go out we're going to buy you two new presents. How's that pumpkin?" Dudley didn't just have our parents wrapped around his finger, they were totally bent to his will, and he used that as often as possible.

After breakfast we grabbed our coats and headed to the car, Dudley getting the seat by one of the windows and I went in the middle. I rarely enjoyed sitting next to Dudley, even before I started liking Harry. Outside the car I heard Father whisper to Harry "I'm warning you now boy. Any funny business, any at all, and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in."

At the zoo Dudley decided he wanted to see some reptiles, mostly because he knew how freaked out I was by them. I clung to Mother the entire time while Dudley tried to make a resting snake move for him. "Make him move." He ordered.

Father tapped on the glass. "Move."

When he didn't Dudley pounded on it "Move!"

"He's asleep!" Harry barked at Dudley.

"He's boring." Dudley sighed before moving onto another reptile. I decided to stay next to Harry as chances were that Dudley would try to scare me some more with the other reptiles.

"Sorry about him." Harry apologized. "He doesn't understand what it's like lying there day after day."

"You know he can't understand you right?" I asked him but he didn't pay me any head. Then he did the strangest thing I had ever seen him do before that moment. He started hissing, and even stranger it looked like the snake understood what he was saying. It wasn't long before Dudley saw the snake moving and barreled over.

"Mummy, Dad come here! You won't believe what this snake is doing?" Dudley shouted pushing Harry, and ultimately me, to the floor. He pressed his pudgy face and hands to the glass, completely wide eyed at the sight of the snake moving. I was so angry at Dudley, angry that he had pushed me down. Since Harry was with me at the time, I thought that he was the only one who made the glass disappear, causing Dudley to fall in. He spluttered and splashed in the water, completely freezing when the snake slithered over him and out of his cage. The snake hissed at Harry and Harry hissed back, as if they were exchanging some sort of thanks. I clutched Harry's clothes as the snake slithered away, sending everyone into a panic.

Dudley got up and put his hand up, only to be met with glass. He started freaking out and shouted "Mum! Mummy!"

Mother started screaming as soon as she saw Dudley behind the glass. "My darling boy!" She shrieked pressing her hands to the glass. Harry and I began giggling, catching the attention of Father's who's deadly look shut us both up.

When we got home Mother consoled a blanket wrapped Dudley into the kitchen and Father told me to go to my room. I ran up the stairs but stopped at the top when Father grabbed Harry's hair.

"What happened?" Father growled, his face redder than the time I accidently released Aunt Marge's dog into the street.

"I swear I don't know!" Harry pleaded but Father just growled and dragged him to the cupboard. "One minute the glass was there and then it was gone! It was like magic!"

This only seemed to enrage Father even further and he opened the door and pushed Harry into his 'room'. Slamming the door behind him and locking it, he snarled "There's _no_ such thing as _magic_!" He shut the curtain on the door and stormed into the kitchen.

After making sure Father was gone I tip-toed down the steps, jumping lightly over the last one as it made a loud creak, and opened the curtain to the door.

"Harry." I whispered so they wouldn't hear, though I doubt they would've. They were too busy consoling my idiot of a brother.

"What?" He asked a little miffed about how the day turned out.

"Did you really make that glass disappear?" I asked a little excited.

"I know. At least, I didn't mean to."

"Well I'm glad you did."

"Why? I mean, Dudley _is_ your brother."

"Yeah, but he's also a huge jerk. Plus, if I could do what you did, I probably would've done it." Little did I know I actually did help do it, but that'll be explained later.

.

.

.

A few days after 'The Incident', breakfast was boring, as usual. The one thing I deniably hated about having meals with my family was that there was never anything to talk about. Either Father was boasting about how well he was doing at work or just the background noise of Dudley smacking his food in his open mouth. Harry never spoke unless spoken too, which was almost as rare, and since I never dared to speak to him in front of my parents, things were pretty boring.

Harry came in with the letters and gave Father some, but kept one for him. _Harry got a letter?_, I thought. Apparently Dudley noticed it too, and I made a face at how ridiculously tight the 'pants' of his *insert school name* uniform was.

"Oh Marge is ill!" Father said before Dudley snatched Harry's letter right out of his hand.

"Dad look! Harry's got a letter!"He shouted giving Father the letter.

"Give it back! It's mine!" Harry protested but no one listened.

Father chortled "Oh don't be ridiculous. Who would write to you?" His smile slipped off his face when he saw something on the back of the letter. Mother and Father locked eyes, both looking scared perhaps for the first time in my life.

Soon even weirder things started to happen. Owls seemed to migrate towards Little Whinging everyday and letters for Harry came in. Father would always rip them before Harry could read them, and he nearly took my head off when I tried to read it. Mother seemed more intent than ever trying to keep any sort of friendship between Harry and me from forming. I caught a glimpse of a letter once before Father burned it in the fireplace. It came from a place called "Hogwarts". I thought it was a stupid name, or at the least make believe. But the more the letters came the more I began to wonder if it was a real place. So I asked Mother about it while she was cooking. She dropped the eggs she was holding and told me never to say that word again. She and Father did everything in their power to make whatever was in those letters a secret.

However it became apparent that whoever was sending those letters would not be ignored. On one particular Sunday things went from crazy to just utterly insane.

"Fine day Sunday." Father said while everyone, except Harry, was drinking tea and eating snacks. Mother and Father made Harry serve the food without letting him eat any. "In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that Dudley?"

When Dudley shrugged I answered "Because there's no post on Sundays Daddy." Then Harry offered me the plate I took two cookies. "Thank you Harry." I said eating one while hiding the other in my pocket to save for later.

"Right you are Dahlia." Father said looking proud of me. Dudley glared while I stuck my tongue childishly at him behind Mother's back. "No post on Sunday. Ha! No blasted letters today!" Father went on a rant about how glorious it was that no letters were coming. I think that persistence of the sender had gotten to him, as everyday there would be 4 or 5 letters for Harry.

Then out of nowhere a letter hit father in the face, causing him to splutter. There was a rumbling and like a bursting dam a waterfall of letters flew out of the fireplace. Mother and Dudley were holding each other while screaming and Father was still in shock. I was just in a daze, thinking about how amazing this was. Harry got the idea to climb on the couch and eventually grabbed a letter.

"No!" Father yelled chasing after Harry who had tried to run away. "Give me that! Give me that letter!"

"Get off!" I heard Harry yell. Father must've grabbed him. Mother, Dudley and I ran to the hallway and saw that the whole house was being buried in letters. "They're my letters! Let go of me!"

"That's it!" Father shouted finally having enough. "We're going away! Far away! Where they can't find us!"

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley exclaimed, but Mother was too shocked by it all to answer.

.

.

.

I can't recall where Father took us after his little episode, but I do remember that the place we went was like an island prison. Waves crashed up on the shore like they wanted to eat us, and lighting and thunder were dancing in the sky freely; all of this made me very scared. Mother and Father slept in a bed on one of the top floors, Dudley got the couch, I had a chair (for trying to give Harry a letter while everyone was distracted; Mother nearly throttled me), and Harry was made to sleep on the floor.

It was on the night of his birthday that we both stayed up late. I still had the cookie I kept with me and for reasons I didn't know back then it was still warm and fresh. I lay on my stomach next to Harry while we waited for midnight to come. Harry kept me awake so that I wouldn't miss out. We shared the cookie, though Harry devoured his in about five seconds due to how hungry he must've been, and waited.

Harry drew a birthday cake in the dirt with eleven candles while I quietly sang 'Happy Birthday'. When the watch on Dudley's watch beeped "12:00 PM", I sleepily said "Make a wish Harry."

As soon as he blew out the 'candles', a bang came from the door, like something huge was trying to force their way in. Dudley bolted from his sleep and stared at the door as we all did when it made another loud bang. Another bang and Mother and Father came downstairs, Father with a shotgun in his hands. Harry had run behind a pillar when the door finally came down. There only a silhouette thanks to the bright white lightning was what I thought was a monster. Dudley screamed in fright, I myself stayed in shocked silence as a giant man, wearing a huge moleskin overcoat with many pockets, looked at us with eyes like glinting black beetles through long, wild black hair and a great beard on his chin. I rubbed my brown eyes to see if what I was really seeing was true, but no matter how much I rubbed or squinted, or pushed my brown hair back, he was still there.

But he wasn't there to hurt us. After stepping a few feet in he said "Sorry about tha'." It seemed so strange that with such thick tension in the air that he would apologize as if breaking down the door was like interrupting a conversation. With no trouble at all, the giant man lifted up the door and placed it back awkwardly on its hinges.

"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" Father exclaimed, shakily aiming his gun at the giant man. I was surprised that someone like him, so large and beefy, would be afraid of anything. I always thought that he was so fearless, but that ended a long time ago.

I remembered when Father bought the gun, thinking that it would keep him safe from what they feared the most: magic. "You are breaking and entering!"

The giant man seemed annoyed with Father so after stepping in front of my cowering parents, he grabbed the tip of the gun and said "Dry up Dursley, you great prune." then he bent the shotgun end upwards. Father shot it in fright, only to shoot the ceiling instead. Then with a livelier skip in his step, he walked over to Dudley and said "Oi, I have seen you since you were a baby 'arry." His accent was so think that it sounded like some of the letters in words were missing when he spoke. "You're a bit more along that I would 'ave expected, particularly right in the middle."

"He's not Harry Mr. Giant." I didn't know what his name was so Mr. Giant was the first thing that came to mind.

The giant chuckled lightly, apparently there was something about me that he liked, because unlike the rest of my family, he came forward to me and looked down kindly at me. Later I would learn that the reason he was so comfortable around me was because there was something about me that was more special than I could have ever imagined. "I'm only a half-giant. You can call me Hagrid though. Now if that's not Harry then who is?"

"I-I am." Said boy announced coming out from behind the pillar and standing tall, though I could tell that he was nervous by how he kept shifting from one foot to another.

"Well of course you are." Hagrid the Half-Giant said walking over to Harry now. "I've got something for ya. Afraid that I might 'ave sat on it a bit on the way 'ere, but I can imagine it'll taste fine just the same." He then reached into one of his many large pockets and to my utter surprise he pulled out a plain white box tied up with a thin purple ribbon. He held it out to Harry and said "Baked it myself, words and all."

I jogged over to Harry as he opened it and my jaw dropped again when I saw that there was a chocolate cake with pink icing, with the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY' written with green icing. I looked over and saw that Harry was very surprised and happy. I'm sure that this was that first time that Harry got a cake of any kind on his birthday.

"Thank you!" Harry said gratefully, while I stared at the cake. It did look awfully delicious, and I could barely restrain myself. When Harry saw my hungry eyes he gestured for me to take some and I happily wiped my finger with some icing and ate it. I looked over at Dudley who looked jealously at me for having first bite at the cake.

"Well it's not every day that a young man turns eleven, now is it, eh?" Hagrid said happily. He then sat down on the couch, causing it to creak loudly, before he took out a pink umbrella, pointed it at the dead fireplace and to one of the most ultimate surprises of that night, caused fire to shoot out and lit the fireplace. I gasped loudly while I heard Mother shrieked in fear.

Harry placed the cake on a table by the couch and said timidly to Hagrid "Excuse me? Who are you?"

"Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Of course you know all about Hogwarts." Hagrid said confidently, as if Hogwarts was some sort of household name.

"Sorry, no." Harry said as if he did something bad. Thanks to my _dear _parents who made Harry feel stupid all the time, it's no wonder that he used to be so shy around people. Speaking frankly he's still a little awkward around them now.

"No? Blimey Harry, didn't you ever wonder where your mum and dad learned it all?" Hagrid asked truly beguiled by what Harry just said. Since I was only 10 back then I was having some trouble keeping up with it all.

"Learned what?"

"You're a wizard Harry." Hagrid said and a silence fell over the room. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mother and Father look at each other fearfully.

Harry stammered "I-I'm a what?"

"A wizard." Hagrid replied with a smile, making his eyes crinkle. "And a thumping good one I wager, soon as you train up a little."

I couldn't believe my ears. Harry? A wizard? I was so sure that nothing magical existed, and that the world was only made up of either good or cruel people, both theories eventually destroyed in later years. Harry, probably more shocked than anyone else in that room, said "No. You've made a mistake I mean…_I_ can't be a-a-a wizard. I mean I'm just…Harry! Just Harry."

"Well, _just_ Harry, did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or scared?" Hagrid asked and I knew that everyone was thinking that same thing. Strange things had always happened when Harry was around, and this supposed nonsense about wizards being real started making sense. Satisfied with the reaction he got, Hagrid stood up and handed Harry the letter that Mother and Father were so determined to get rid of. Harry broke the seal and took out a letter and read aloud "_Dear Mr. Potter, / We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._"

Father refused to let the matter go any farther because just as Harry finished that sentence he stormed over and put his hands on my shoulders, pulling me back from what he later called 'dangerous nonsense'. "He'll not be going I tell you! We swore when we took him in that we would put a stop to all this rubbish!"

"You _knew_,' said Harry. 'You _knew_ I'm a ... a wizard?"

"Knew!' Mother shrieked suddenly, causing my heart to jolt in surprised and my skin to crawl the same way a cartoon cat does when scared. '_Knew_! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that ... that _school_ - and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning tea-cups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was ... a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. To my small ten year old mind even I could understand that she had wanted to say this for years. "Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as ... as ... _abnormal_ ... and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

"Blown up? You told me that my parents died in a car crash!" Harry shouted outraged. Inwardly I wondered, if Harry didn't get his scar from a car crash, then where did he get it from?

"A car crash?" Hagrid hollered equally outraged. "A car crash killed Lily and James Potter?"

"We had to say something." Mother said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's an outrage! It's a scandal!" Hagrid shouted, though I didn't hear the rest of the conversation as it was drowned out by a smacking sound, like how a dog drinks water out of a bowl. I turned to locate the source of the noise when I pinpointed on _it_: Dudley, pigging out on _Harry's _cake.

"Dudley! That's Harry's cake!" I exclaimed but none of the adults heard me, they were too busy arguing about Harry going to Hogwarts. I ran forward and tried to pull him off before he inhaled the rest of it but he pushed me down. I squealed as I hit the floor, finally catching everyone's attention. Hagrid noticed that Dudley, paying me no mind, was still gulping down on something that wasn't his, like the time we went out to eat and he stole another kid's birthday cake in front of the entire restaurant. Needless to say we were banned from coming back.

Hagrid retaliated in a way that I will always remember. He took out his umbrella once again and aimed it Dudley tail. With a dash of light out of his large rump Dudley produced a curly pink pigtail. I started laughing while Dudley, and soon Mother and Father, started freaking out. I then saw that Hagrid was leaving with Harry who put on his shoes and was going to leave without saying goodbye!

"Harry!" I shouted running to him, Mother and Father were too busy trying to contain Dudley's tail without hurting him. I ran up to him and wanted to do something before he left, but a hug seemed so odd. So I took his hand and shook it with vigor. "Promise you'll write as much as you can. Okay?"

Harry, who seemed shocked that I would ask such a thing, stared at me for a minute before a small smile crept across his face, lighting up his emerald eyes behind the mass of messy black hair. "Alright, I will."

Harry didn't come back for Christmas that year, but we still exchanged gifts, though in secret. As time went on during Harry's first year, I became less afraid of what my parents thought and began to enjoy writing about magic with Harry. He told me that he had finally made two friends, the first being a boy named Ron Weasley, whom Harry described as having blue eyes with flaming red hair, being tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. Harry had met Ron on the train to Hogwarts and they apparently had been tied to the hip ever since. He said that Ron was a great friend; though he could be blunt at times and hated it when someone corrected his magic, which is where we come to Hermione Granger, a girl Harry had also made friends with during his time there. He described Hermione as having a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth. At first they hadn't really been friends but after Harry and Ron saved her from a troll released into the school by one of the professors, a stuttering man named Professor Quirell, they had formed a friendship.

He also told about Voldemort, the dark wizard who killed his parents, the reason for his scar. After a long detailed explanation about who he was, Harry told me that Voldemort (or You-Know-Who as everyone in the wizarding world is too scared to say his name) tried to come back by using the Philosopher's Stone, but Harry and his friends stopped them.

We traded letters back-and-forth until Harry came back in the summer, and for an entire year I noticed that there was something different with me. Like Harry, strange things started to happen whenever I was upset or scared, and it drove my parents mad. They would always become skittish and would refuse to answer any of my questions, which made me even more suspicious. It was only until the end of that summer of Harry's first year that I discovered the reason for all these strange happenings.

I was a muggleborn witch.

**Sorry if it was too long guys, but I thought that it was pretty substantial. **

**Reviews are appreciated! **

**Bye! **


	3. It's For You'

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

'**It's For You' **

I didn't know what a muggleborn witch was, or that I was even a witch for a long time. However I guess that considering some of the signs from my earlier childhood, like when Dudley would get hurt whenever we had a fight or when something would spontaneously break during my temper tantrums, that I could've figured it out on my own. But thanks to Harry living in the same house as I was no one, including my parents, understood that some of it was me.

I guess it all kind of came out during what Father called a nice dinner party with his boss and the boss's wife. I later called it Daddy's-way-of-sucking-up-to-his-boss.

I absolutely disliked Mr. and Mrs. Mason for the sole reason that because of the party my mother slathered my face with blush and plucked the hairs off my face (yes, I said _face_) before squeezing me into a _pink_ dress with a rose on it. While I don't really have a problem with pink, that color Mother threw on me was near unbearable to look at. The only consolation was that I got to wear my favorite pink hair ribbon. Dudley snickered when he saw me and I would've knocked that smug little smile off his fat face if it wasn't for Harry.

I sat down on the sofa bored out of my mind while Mother prepared the suck-up dinner and Father helped Dudley with his tie. We heard Hedwig, Harry's owl from Hogwarts, squeal again and the clatter of the cage she was in sounded downstairs.

"Blasted bird." Father growled, his graying mustache wrinkling as his face scrunched up. "Harry Potter!" We heard Harry coming downstairs and I saw that he was wearing regular clothes, of course. Father didn't want anything to ruin his chances of earning that promotion he was looking at and that meant keeping Harry out of sight. Father said "I'm warning you. If you can't control that bloody bird it'll have to go."

"But she's bored!" Harry protested. "If I could only let her out for an hour…"

Father scoffed "So you can send secret messages to your freaky little friends? No sir."

"But I haven't had _any_ messages, from _any_ of my friends. Not one for the whole summer." Harry said sadly and I felt sorry for him. The friends he made at Hogwarts meant the world to him, so not receiving any letters must've killed him.

Then my darling brother pompously added "Who'd want to be friends with you?"

"Oh shut up Dudley." I snapped, sick and tired of my annoying brother always picking on Harry. Everyone else seemed shocked that I had said that, but Dudley got over it and towered over me threateningly.

"What did you say, _Dahlia_?" Dudley knew I hated my name, and that I only let my parents say it. I stood up from my seat and got into his face.

"Father needs us at our best behavior, and I can't do that if I'm bothered by your constant whining." I snarled back.

"It's not whining if it's the truth."

"Well then here's some for you _Duddy_." I knew that he hated it when I called him that. "Every time I hear you speak I want punch you in your fat face!"

"Dahlia Petunia Dursley!" Mother finally snapped at my poor behavior. "That is enough. The Mason's will be here any minute and we need to prepare, so that means no fights and no arguments."

Dudley and I stared hard at each other before he roughly pushed past me and purposely bumped shoulders with Harry to get to the kitchen.

Father looked at me and said sternly. "We will discuss your behavior later young lady." He then turned to Harry, looking at him worse than before. Later I learned that he blamed Harry for making me betray the family, but more on that later. "I'd think that you'd be a little more grateful." Harry looked at him like he was insane. "We've raised you since you were a baby, giving you food from out table, even let you have Dahlia's second bedroom, all out of the goodness of our hearts." Yeah, he gave Harry my bedroom but didn't relinquish any of Dudley's. Even back then he was the favorite child.

"Not now popkin." Mother said when Dudley tried to take a strawberry from a cake Mother was preparing. "We must wait until the Mason's arrive."

"Which should be any minute! I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. "We should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia, when the Masons arrive you will be ...?"

"In the lounge," said Mother promptly, 'waiting to welcome them graciously to our home.'

"Good, good. And Dudley?'

"I'll be waiting to open the door.' Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

"They'll _love_ him!" cried Mother rapturously.

"Excellent, Dudley," said Father. Then he turned to me "Dahlia, you will…"

I put on a smile that looked sincere but was more unrealistic than Dudley's chances of going on a diet. "Meeting and greeting them in the hall courteously as a young lady should. 'Pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Mason.'" I did a curtsy that Mother made me practice on for the entire afternoon.

"Wonderful!" Father exclaimed joyfully. Then he rounded on Harry. "And _you_?"

"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I'm not there," said Harry tonelessly.

"Exactly," said Father nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen ..."

"I'll announce dinner," said Mother.

"And Dudley, you'll say ...?"

"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman.

"My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Mother.

"Dahlia…?"

"This way to the table, Mr. and Mrs. Mason. Would you a cup of tea, water, or just snacks?" I asked pretending to hold out a tray of drinks in my arms. I hated every minute of pretending that I even cared about these people.

"My lovely little lady." Mother said proudly. I think this was the last time she would ever be really proud of me, or at least show it. The latter less likely.

"And _you_?" said Father viciously to Harry.

"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I'm not there," said Harry dully.

"Too right you won't. With any luck this could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career, and you will not mess it up." Father said nastily and Harry gave him a hateful look, one I would often find on myself some years later whenever I had to come back home for the summer. He sent Harry upstairs before turning back on the family. "Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?"

"Vernon tells me you're a _wonderful_ golfer, Mr. Mason... _Do_ tell me where you brought your dress, Mrs. Mason..."

I noticed that there was a tray of cookies nearby and I had (for some reason I still can't remember even to this day) eaten little before the suck-up party. I tried to sneak over and eat one but Mother was perceptive as ever.

"Dahlia, put that cookie down, you'll spoil your appetite." She said pressing her lips into a thin line.

"But Mummy, I'm hungry. And Dudley got to eat a cookie before dinner." I whined but to no avail.

"Not another word. Behave yourself or you won't have any cookies at all." She said with a final tone to her voice.

Huffily, I put the cookie back on the plate and plopped down on the couch, facing away from the tray. "I really want that cookie." I muttered under my breath. "I really want that cookie."

I heard the hurried clicks of high heels and turned around to see my mother with a cookie in her mouth when the tray was a good five feet away from her. I raised an eyebrow at Mother and looked at Father and Dudley who had identical expressions of mixed shock and fear. Every one of them looked at me strangely and I'm sure that Dudley was about to blurt something out when heard the doorbell ring, signaling that the Masons had arrived.

"Places everyone!" Father announced and Dudley ran to the door while I stood in the hallway, smoothing out my horrid pink dress.

Dudley opened the door to Mr. and Mrs. Mason, an elderly man with wisps of white hair on his bald head arm in arm with an equally elderly woman with graying blond hair. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Mason, my name is Dudley Dursley. May I take you coats?"

"Why thank you young man." Mrs. Mason said handing Dudley her coat as did her husband. She then noticed me. "Hello there young miss. And who might you be?"

I put on a smile that same smile from before and curtsied. "Pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Mason. My name is Dahlia Dursley."

"What a lovely daughter you have Mr. Dursley. Doesn't she remind you of Freda, darling?" Mrs. Mason said to her husband who remained stoic the entire time.

I could practically see the wheels turning in Father's head as he saw Mrs. Mason doting on me. He came up behind me and put his meaty hands on my shoulders. "That's our Dahlia. Did you know that she's the top student in her class? And she loves to draw."

The dinner continued like that as Father tried to butter up Mrs. Mason to get to Mr. Mason by using me. I was bored out of my mind, and Dudley kept glaring me because I was getting all the attention. He could've had it for all I cared. Before dinner right when Father was serving the Masons some brandy we heard loud thumps from upstairs, right in the vicinity of Harry's room. Father's face paled and he smiled pretending that it was nothing. "Oh, don't mind that it's just the um-the um…"

"Cat?" I suggested.

"Yes, our cat whose name is, um…"

"Harry." I said standing up. "I'll go check on him. I think he's getting lonely." Before anyone could object I darted up the stairs to escape the suck-up party and see what on earth Harry was doing.

When I opened the door I saw Harry trying to calm down a small creature that barely came up to Harry's navel. It had huge, green, tennis ball-sized eyes and a long thin nose like a pencil. I almost screamed in shock but Harry clamped his hand over my mouth and dragged me inside, kicking the door shut. I struggled because even though I wasn't afraid of a half-giant like Hagrid something about the elf scared me to no end.

"Shh, Did, **(pronounced Deed)** its okay. Dobby's not going to hurt you." Harry shushed me as my screams turned into deep, heavy breaths, which eventually reduced to slow, quiet breaths. As soon as I calmed down Harry took his hand away from mouth. He was about to explain something or other when the creature, Dobby, started talking.

"Oh dear, Dobby has done bad things." He sobbed. "Very bad things. I frightened Harry Potter's guest."

"Did isn't my guest. She's my cousin." Harry said trying to placate the poor thing but it only made things worse.

"Oh dear! I've done even more wrong! I've frightened Harry Potter's family!" He was completely hysterical now and grabbed the edges of Harry's drawers and started hitting himself against it. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" I whispered fiercely, hoping that Father wouldn't come upstairs. If he did then he would become ballistic and blame and maim Harry for bringing whatever Dobby was into the house. When Dobby finally stopped Harry asked "Are you alright?"

Dobby answered warily taking a seat, as if he was wondering if it was okay to even think about sitting. He did but ended up kneeling instead. "Dobby had to punish himself, sir. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir."

"Your family?" Harry asked.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is bound to this family forever. If they knew that Dobby was here…" Dobby shuddered. "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry Potter. To warn…" he spoke in a low whisper now, glancing out the window as if he was afraid someone was listening. Harry and I were sitting on the bed. "…Harry Potter must not come back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year! There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen."

"What terrible things? Who's plotting." Harry questioned as Dobby shrunk into himself. He then started grunting like the thoughts inside were literally hurting his brain. Harry said quickly "Okay I understand. You can't say anything." This didn't sooth Dobby, the poor creature, as he went on top of Harry's desk and started hitting himself with a lamp. Harry and I tried to wrangle it out of his hands to stop him from hurting himself but he was surprisingly strong. When we heard the sound of heavy footsteps Harry grabbed Dobby and threw him in the closet right as Father threw open the door.

"What the devil are you two doing up here?" He whispered severely, looking at us both like we'd gone mad.

Harry stammered "I-I-I was just-"

"We were playing a game." I said quickly. Father turned to me while I turned to Harry. "Harry was teaching me a game he learned from school called…"

"Exploding snap." Harry said quickly catching on. This might not have been the best lie but it was better than telling Father the truth.

Father turned his angry eyes on Harry. "Trying to corrupt my daughter with dangerous nonsense, are you? Well tonight will be the end of that. Dahlia, come on. Mrs. Mason is eager to speak more to you." He said ushering me out of the room. I heard him say to Harry "One more sound out of this room, and you'll wish you were never born, boy. And fix that door."

"Yes, sir." Harry said and I heard a closet door close.

Father then slammed the door shut and led me down the stairs. I tried to pay attention to what the adults were saying but I couldn't stop thinking about Dobby the Elf (for that's what I guessed he was) and how he completely fascinated me. I mean the fact that his eyes were a bit huge and that he repeatedly hurt himself scared me a bit, but overall he seemed like a pleasant elf.

I heard something from the stairs and saw from the corner of my eye that the cake was levitating! I also saw Harry with Dobby barely past the doorway; Dobby looking quite pleased with himself and Harry looking positively horrified. The cake started floating towards us and I tried to grab Father's attention but he was too busy talking with Mr. Mason about his job. Harry crept forward trying to grab the cake before-

It was too late. I saw Dobby snap his fingers and the cake fell right down on top of Mrs. Mason's head, with Harry in a position that would make anyone think he dropped it.

"I'm so sorry." Father quickly apologized. "It's my nephew. He's disturbed; meeting strangers upsets him, that's why I kept him upstairs."

The Mason's left without another word and Father turned into a shade of red that I didn't think was possible on a human's face. He started yelling at Harry so loudly I was surprised that the neighbors hadn't called the cops or something. After he was finished with his long rant about how Harry was never going back to that 'bloody school of lunatics' again, he sent us all to our rooms, Harry getting nothing to eat.

I had successfully shed my dress and just finished putting on my pajamas when someone knocked. "Who is it?"

"It's me. I've got something for you." Harry said from the other side of the door.

"Come in." I called and Harry came in with a letter in his hand. "What's that?"

"A letter from Hogwarts. Dobby must've dropped it when he ran."

"They're going to let you back to school right?"

"It's not for me." Harry said which puzzled me. What he said next would change my life forever. "It's for you."

**Ooh, cliffhanger. Well that's what happens when I just feel like it.**

**Reviews are appreciated. Plus I'll probably wait until I have at least 5 reviews to update again. **

**Bye! **


	4. A Lot Of Firsts For Me

**Important AN**

**Very sorry my friends! I already told someone that I would update like I don't know how long ago, but fanfiction (being a total jerk), wouldn't let me update THIS story! Ugh! It was frustrating beyond belief! But at least now I've got a few chapters ready in advance, as long as I get my reviews due. **

**Also, to answer Suguri's question about Dahlia's nickname, I actually got it from the just repeating her original nickname DD (which is her initials). **

**Remember, Did = Deed**

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**A Lot of Firsts for Me **

There were many ways I could've responded to Harry's previous statement. The only one that got through was "Huh?"

"It's a letter from Hogwarts, and it's addressed to you." Harry said holding the letter out for me which I took gingerly.

"But that's impossible, isn't it? I'm a Moogle."

"Muggle." Harry corrected, this would happen a lot over the course of the next month.

"Whatever. And only witches an wizards can go to Hogwarts right, so why…?" I trailed off with a confused look on my face, and then looked down at the letter in my hands and noticing indeed that my name was on the letter, among other things.

_Ms. D. Dursley  
The Second Door on the Right Hand Side Of The Stairs  
4 Privet Drive,  
Little Whinging,  
Surrey _

This letter, my letter, was exactly like Harry's letter was last year, with the Hogwarts seal and everything. I was intrigued- no, intrigued was such an inadequate word. Something inside me told me that what was inside that letter was incredibly important. I broke the seal quickly and took the letter out. I looked up at Harry who gestured for me to continue. I was too nervous, and I supposed it showed because Harry said "It'll help if you read it out loud."

I nodded, licking my lips before reading: _"Dear Ms. Dursley / We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. / Yours sincerely, / Minerva McGonagall / Deputy Headmistress." _

"WHAT?" We heard a shout and found that Dudley had been listening in the entire time, his lips flapping together as he tried to form words like a clapping seal. He pushed past Harry and grabbed the letter out of my hands, keeping me an arm's length away as I struggled to get my letter back. I fell as the weight was gone and Dudley dashed down the stairs. Harry and I looked at each other before racing after Dudley who was screaming at the top of his lungs "Mummy! Dad! Did's got a letter!"

By the time we made it to the kitchen my parents were white faced as Father held the letter in his hands, then slammed it on the table as if it had done him some great injustice. Mother was staring at the floor looking more terrified than I had ever seen her, and that was saying something considering all the 'trouble' she went through with Harry the previous summer. Dudley looked very pleased with himself, thinking that he had succeeded into getting me into trouble.

Mother snapped out of it a few moments later. "I-It's got to be a mistake. It just has to be. _My_ Dahlia would never do something like that to me."

"It's not like she chose to be a witch-" Harry said coming to my defense when I didn't even realize I was being insulted.

"No!" Father shouted, scaring us all out of our wits, even Dudley's which were so few I was surprised he had any left. "I won't allow it. My daughter will not become some sort of circus freak!"

"She needs to go to Hogwarts where she can learn to control her magic." Harry protested while I was still having trouble keeping up. What? How could this be? I wasn't a witch. Witches are evil and nasty like Mother used to tell me, and while I wasn't a peach I wasn't evil. But Harry said there were nice witches too. But I couldn't be a witch. I just couldn't.

Father spun on Harry then grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him into a wall. The way he looked at that moment I truly thought that he was going to kill Harry. His large hands started to wrap around Harry's neck. "You! You did this! You infected my daughter with your disease!"

"Daddy, stop it!" I cried but he pushed me back as well, an action he had never done before. It wouldn't be the last. He looked at me not as his little girl, but like some stranger in his house.

"Vernon, darling," said Mother as she came up next to him and stopped him from throttling Harry, though by the look on her face it looked like she wanted to kill him herself. Harry backed off towards me trying to regain his breath. ", it's just a mistake. There's no way that Dahlia could be a-a-"

"A witch." I said timidly causing a silence to break out. Then more bravely I said "I'm a witch. Harry told me that there are wizards and witches like me, who are born from Moogle-"

"Muggle." Harry corrected once again.

"-parents. And all those times last year when Harry wasn't home but weird things kept happening, that was me, wasn't it? I did those things because I'm a-"

"Stop it!" Mother shrieked. "Not another word. Now both of you go upstairs to your room or you won't have breakfast either." I had never heard her speak to me like that. Like the way she talks to Harry. And the way she looked at me…it was like she was _jealous_, or like I was an old nightmare coming back to haunt her. When she saw that neither of us had moved she shouted "Go!" and we shout off like bullets from a gun. I ran upstairs the fastest and ran into my room, slamming the door behind me. I started crying into my pillow and I heard the door open, hoping that it was Mother or Father coming to apologize for yelling at me. But it wasn't. Harry was there and when he saw me crying he sat on my bed and rubbed my back while I sobbed, and he didn't stop until I cried myself to sleep.

.

.

.

Father really had gone ballistic after I had received my letter. He wanted to make sure that the embarrassment of having a freak of a nephew and now daughter remained a secret. He thought that if I didn't go to Hogwarts then the magic would simply disappear. To ensure that neither Harry nor I tried to get their on our own, he put locks on our doors and even barred the windows. He even forbade us from speaking to each other, which was where learning Morse code came in handy. I learned about Morse code from a girl in my class at school. I was able to slip a paper slip with the code in it to Harry after 'bumping' into him after dinner. We had to be careful not to hit the walls too loudly or Dudley would sound the alarm, though he was always downstairs watching the telly so he rarely spent his time upstairs.

On Harry's birthday, from behind the wall, I 'said' ".. .- .. ... ... .. -.-. - ..- .-.. -.. -. - - - ... - -. .- .- .-. - ... .-.-.- ". _I wish I could go to Hogwarts._

He responded "- . - - - .-.-.- ". _Me too._

I then paused and asked "... .- .-. .-. -.- -..- -.. - - -.- .-. .- .-. . -. - ... ... .- - . - . ..-.. ". _Harry, do my parents hate me?_

He didn't answer. I don't know if it was because he didn't want to hurt my feelings or if he truly didn't know, but he instead he chose to say "-. - - -.. -. .. -. ... - -.. -..". _Goodnight DD._

Disheartened, I responded "-. - - -.. -. .. -. ... - ... .- .-. .-. -.- .-.-.- ... .- .-. .-. -.- -... .. .-. - ... -.. .- -.- .-.-.-". _Goodnight Harry. Happy Birthday. _And went to bed, but at least an hour later, when everyone was asleep, I was woken up by the sound of a running car and people talking in Harry's room. It didn't sound like anyone in my family, but I couldn't really tell seeing as they were whispering. I saw a light coming from my window but since the windows were barred I couldn't see what it was. Then from the wall I heard Harry tap ".-. .- -.-. -.- ..- .-. -.- - ..- .-. - ... .. -. -. ... .-.-.- .- . .-. .-. . .-.. . .- ...- .. -. -. .-.-.- ". _Pack up your things. We're leaving. _

I didn't need to be asked twice. I pulled a suitcase from under my bed and packed as many clothes as I could stuff in there and a box filled with my hair ribbons. I also grabbed some money (30 £, I was smarter than Dudley when I thought of savings) and threw that in, and I stuffed in a letter from Hogwarts that was rescued from being burned by my parents. The final piece was my stuffed animal monkey named Mr. B (short for the unimaginative Mr. Banana) I changed out of my pajamas and put on jeans and a yellow T-Shirt, along with a yellow hair bow with white polka-dots. I tried to open the door but it was still locked. How were we going to get out?

Then I heard a terrible screeching coming from Harry's room, like metal being torn apart. I again strained to see what it was but all I could see was a bright light again and the running engine of a car. Then Harry tapped again with much urgency "-... .- .-. -.- - ..- .-. -.. - - .-. .-.-.- ". _Bar your door._

Again, I needed no other instructions as I heard racing footsteps towards our room, my loving family running forwards but they passed my room to get to Harry's. This gave me enough time to use a chair to bar the door from opening like I saw on the telly, and I heard Father shouting at Harry before I heard him screaming, the sound abruptly stopping when I heard the groan of wood. Father must've fallen into the bushes or something.

Then I saw the source of all that noise. A car flying in the air! There were three red headed boys, two older and one younger, with Harry in the back seat. They attached a hook and tore the bars off. I opened the window and Harry shouted "Did, give me your trunk!" I raced to my bed as I heard Mother screech "Dahlia!" I heard the banging on my door, making my heart with fright and excitement as I passed Harry my trunk which he shoved into the smaller red headed boy. He then showed me his hand. "Get in!"

"Dahlia!" Mother shouted, trying to force her way in but the chair and the many locks Father had placed to keep me in were ironically keeping her out. I was having second doubts. What if this was all a mistake? What if I wasn't meant for Hogwarts? What if-

"Did!" Harry shouted, getting my attention. "You said wanted to go to Hogwarts, right? If you still want that, take my hand!" I was presented with a choice when I was 11 years old. I could either go with Harry and learn magic, with the immense possibility that I could forever estrange myself from my family, or I could stay and try to pretend like I wasn't a witch, and earn my family's acceptance. _No._, I thought. _It's too late for that now. Things would never be the same. I have to go all the way with this or I'll always wonder why_. With a final glance at the door, with my Mother calling out my name from the other side, I climbed out the window and grabbed onto Harry's hand. He pulled me into the car and that was the last I saw of my family for another year.

The smallest red-headed boy said "By the way Harry, Happy Birthday."

"Thanks Ron." Harry said looking happier than I'd seen him all summer.

"And who's this lovely lady?" one of the older boys, both of which I saw were twins, asked. I blushed a bit when he called me lovely.

"This is my cousin, DD." Harry said and when the others gave worried looks he said "It's okay guys. She's one of us." Then all nodded their heads with open mouths saying "Oh!"

"I'm Ron. Ron Weasley." The smaller (and I use that term loosely as he was very tall for his age) red head said to me, holding out his hand.

I shook it. "Nice to meet you. Harry told me about you in his letters."

"Oh? Did he say anything good?"

"Well he said that you were a loyal and good friend. But he also said that you could be a bit blunt and hated it when people criticized your magic." I said rather bluntly myself. Ron's happy face turned a bit sour as the twins up front started laughing. I noticed that they both had flaming red hair like Ron, and freckles too, but they were shorter and stockier than him, at least from what I could see.

"I like this kid. How about you Fred?" The one in the driver's seat asked.

"I second that George." The one in the passenger's seat said, and then turned to look at me. "Hi there. My name's Fred and the brainless oaf driving is George, my twin."

"She's not blind; she can tell we're twins. And he calls me brainless!"

I like the way these two bickered. It wasn't the course, anger fights that always popped up between Dudley and I, but this was more lighthearted. It was like they were joking around but did it in a way that was almost second nature, something I would never be able to do with my own brother. That was the first time I was jealous of someone for a good reason.

**All the book information I've been able to find goes to the credit of Harry Potter wikia and especially http:/ ****-lexicon****. org/index- **

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**Bye! **


	5. The First Time inside the Burrow

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**The First Time Inside the Burrow**

I woke up in the morning to Harry shaking me awake. Outside I saw that the car was landing (never thought I'd say that before then) outside of a house that was built so crazily that it must certainly be held up by magic. I think it might have once been a farmhouse, though it looked more like it might have been a large stone pigpen, on top of which several crooked stories look to have been added. Overall, despite the garden gnomes, the old boots and chickens littering the yard, the house had a cozy, warm feeling to it that even my house didn't have. My mother's obsession with cleanliness held little concern for any homey feelings.

"Welcome to our humble abode!" One of the twins, I think it was Fred, said opening the door for me and doing a funny bow. "_Madame_." He said in a fake French accent that made me laughed while he held out his hand. I took it and when I was out of the car he suddenly picked me up and placed me on his shoulders, which must've been hard as I wasn't exactly little anymore. I screamed a bit while Ron and the other twin, possibly George, chuckled while Harry ran to catch ahead to us. When we came to the entrance Fred had enough sense to put me down otherwise I would've smashed my head into the doorframe.

Very quietly Fred opened the door, obviously not wanting someone to hear him, and whispered "Okay, come on, shh. Come on." and led everyone inside. Harry and I became fascinated with the house as everything was moving without someone doing it, like a brush that was cleaning a pan all by itself. I even saw knitting needles making a scarf without anyone holding them. I saw Harry looking at a clock that was very odd as it didn't have any numbers but spoons with faces on them, and had different markings on the edges such as "Home", "Dentist", "Lost", "School", and so on. The three spoons that had Fred, George, and Ron's faces all moved from "Lost" to "Home".

"It's not much." Ron said through a mouthful of bread. "But its home."

"I think it's brilliant." Harry said with a huge grin on that face. I smiled because I had never seen him so happy before, at least not at my house.

"Where have you been?" A woman with flaming red hair likes the boys and angry brown eyes looked at the boys, and immediately from the look of her eyes that had a mix of anger and worry I knew that she was the boy's mother. She was short and plumped, and had a face that was kind but at the moment angry, and she was wearing a flowered apron with a something akin to a stick sticking out of the pocket. However her face became much gentler when she saw Harry. "Harry!" She cried softly. "How wonderful to see you, dear." When she noticed me she asked kindly "And who are you?"

"I'm Dahlia Dursley. Harry's cousin." I said but Mrs. Weasley become angry once again, thankfully not at me. She reached forward and covered my ears, but I could still hear some muffled shouting like "Beds empty! No note! Car gone…could have crashed…out of my mind with worry…did you care? You…have died!...could've been se- Oh dear." She said looking down at me with huge eyes. "You brought a Muggle…? Have…gone mad?"

"But she's not a-" Harry tried to see but Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

"…I don't blame…Harry." She said kindly then turned on her boys.

"But they…starving him Mum…bars on their windows." Ron said timidly. I would be too if that was my mother angry at me.

"You best hope…don't put bars on your wind- Did…say 'their' windows'?" She asked and the pressure on my ears started to decrease.

"Mrs. Weasley?" I asked looking up at her and she finally released my ears. After rubbing them to get some blood circulation back in, I spoke "I'm not a Mogagle."

"Muggle." Harry corrected again, earning a heated look from me.

"I'm a witch too." I said. "I can do magic like Harry, I swear by um…by Merlin."

I'm still not sure where I got this from, but it seemed to work for the others. "Well congratulations Dahlia." Mrs. Weasley said happily, looking at me with a warm smile on her face. "I'm sure your parents must be very proud."

My face fell greatly at the mention of my parents and I looked down at my shoes. You could actually feel the awkward in the room as no one said anything, unsure about why I was so sad. Then Harry decided to elaborate. "Her parents are Muggles, Mrs. Weasley, and they aren't exactly the magic-loving type."

"Oh." Mrs. Weasley said with pity in her voice. She gently lifted my chin so that I could look at her. "Don't worry dear. I'm sure that they'll come around. Now come on. You two look like you're hungry." Mrs. Weasley was a kind person, but when it came to other people's hearts, like my parents, she was wrong. Not to be dramatic, but the relationship I had with my parents died when I got that letter.

Mrs. Weasley turned out to be a very loving person and she treated Harry and me as if we were her own children. She sat us down at the table and promised to let us stay at the Weasley home, the Burrow, until we went to Hogwarts, and that she would help when we shopped for supplies.

"There we are, Harry and Dahlia, tuck in. That's right." Mrs. Weasley said pouring us some juice. We were sitting at the Weasley's kitchen table, where I soon met Percy Weasley, the 3rd oldest Weasley and perhaps the most boring. He had the same bright red hair as his siblings but he was different from them. All he could talk about was how his duties as a Prefect at Hogwarts kept him occupied for most of his time. It was apparent that he was a 'stick to the rules like a lifesaver' type of guy.

"Mrs. Weasley, could you please call me DD or Did? Only my parents call me Dahlia." I asked, and then became sad again when my parents were brought up, but the hominess of the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley's genuine concern lessened the blow.

She nodded and we heard the thumping of feet until a girl my age came down. Her eyes were a bright brown color and her vivid, flaming red hair was the exact same shade as the other members of her family. "Mum, Mummy, have you seen my jumper?"

Mrs. Weasley answered "Yes, dear, it was on the cat."

_On the cat?_

The girl's eyes widened when she caught sight of Harry, and the boys started to snicker. Harry said friendly "Hello." but her eyes remained wide as saucers and before anyone knew it she bolted upstairs, causing the boy's snickers to become chuckles.

"What did I do?" Harry asked a little hurt.

"Ginny." Ron answered. "She's been talking about you all summer. Dead annoying, really."

"Oh stop that." Mrs. Weasley chided Ron who rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. She said to me "Ginny's going to be in your year. I think it'd be nice if you two became friends." Mrs. Weasley was right about that. Ginny became my best friend and we remained so to this day.

"Morning, Weasley's'!" A man shouted from outside the door. He wore glasses, and like the rest of the Weasley's had bright red hair. He was a plump like his wife, and he was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

"Morning, Dad!" The Weasley boys shouted.

"What a night!" He announced sounding tired. "Nine raids! Nine!"

"Raids?" I asked Ron, who was in between Harry and I.

"Dad works in the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Dad loves Muggles, thinks they're fascinating." Rom explained.

"Well now." Mr. Weasley sighed then looked strangely at Harry and me. "And who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, sir. I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter. And this is my cousin Did."

Mr. Weasley seemed to have forgotten me as he stared open mouthed like a trout fish at Harry. "Good lord, are you really? Well, Ron's told us all about you, of course. When did you get here?"

"This morning." Mrs. Wesley said miffed. "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."

"Did you really? How'd it go?" Mr. Wesley asked and the boys got excited until Mrs. Weasley slapped him on the arm. "I-I mean….that-that was very wrong, boys, very wrong indeed. Now Harry, you must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

"Oh, um…"

"People take it with them in the baths." I said playing with my food. I wasn't really that used to be ignored just yet.

"Who are you?" Mr. Weasley asked, completely forgetting that Harry introduced me not one minute before.

"This is my cousin Did, Mr. Weasley. She's going to Hogwarts this year." Harry said again and Mr. Weasley blushed.

"I am terribly sorry, my dear. I suppose that meeting Harry was just a bit of a shock for me."

"It's okay." I said a little sullenly, going back to my food. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mrs. Weasley smack Mr. Weasley's arm again and my lips cracked into a smile.

Recovering, Mr. Weasley said "Well tell me Did, what is the currency between Muggles today? Muggles change their currency far too often."

I looked up at him and answered "Well today they use a pound. I have some if you want to see."

The face Mr. Weasley gave me was like a kid at Christmas, eager to open his most desired present. I pulled out two pounds and gave it to Mr. Weasley who looked and held it like it was Aztec gold.

"Fascinating." He breathed before a high pitched screeching sounded from outside the window. I saw an owl flying towards the door us ended up crashing in the window. I scrunched my face in pain at just seeing it slam against the hard glass.

"Oh, fetch him, will you? Percy, please?" Mrs. Weasley asked and Percy got up to fetch the daft bird.

"Errol." Percy called him as the bird hopped up onto the windowsill.

"He's always doing that?" Ron complained while Percy opened up the letter. "It's our Hogwarts letters. And they sent us Harry and Dahlia's as well." He said. My eyebrows knitted together when he called me by my full name. I didn't really appreciate him assuming that I would be okay with it when I already said I liked to be called Did.

"Dumbledore must know you two are here. Doesn't miss a trick, that man." Mr. Weasley said with confidence as Percy handed us our letters.

"Whoa now." George (I think) said.

"This lot won't come cheap, Mum." Fred said. "The spell books alone will be expensive."

"We'll manage." Mrs. Weasley said. That's when an idea hit me.

"Wait a minute. Mr. Weasley, you said that you didn't know what Mangle-"

"Muggle." Harry corrected once again without looking up from his letter. It took a while for me to get the word right.

"-currency was. Does that mean Muggle money isn't the same as wizard money?"

"No." Mr. Weasley said not catching onto my panic.

"Well then how am I supposed to buy all these supplies with nothing? The 50 £ I saved are about as worthless as a treadmill to Dudley." I said with rising panic though Harry found my statement amusing enough to snicker, causing him to earn an eye twitch from me.

"Relax, Did." Harry said. "I'll help you out. Besides, I heard you can change the currency at Gringotts, the wizard bank."

"How? It's not like you've got any more money than I do." I said but now Ron and Harry both chuckled like they were sharing some private joke. Yes, the joke would be on me when I saw just exactly how much Harry's parents left behind for him.

Mrs. Weasley then announced "There's only one place you're going to get all of this. Diagon Alley!"

**Yay! Another chapter! I am good! LOL.**

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	6. Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Diagon Alley **

After breakfast, I wrote my parents a letter telling them that I was okay and that Harry didn't murder me in case that they were going to press charges. Deep down I knew that it was a waste of time but there was a big part of me that hoped that they still cared. Anyways, after I used Errol, the hopelessly confused owl, to send the letter, everyone, the Weasley's, Harry and I, assembled in front of big fireplace with had a flowerpot on a mantel.

I saw the girl, Ginny, standing right next to me and decided to chat. "Hi."

"Hi." She said a little wary. I guess I would be too if there was a complete stranger in my house.

"I'm Did, Harry's cousin." Ginny seemed to loosen up a bit when I told her I was Harry's cousin. Then she furrowed her brows.

"First, second, or more?" She asked suspiciously. I didn't really see what was wrong with this question so I said "Uh, first." She visibly relaxed when I told her this, and I would later tease her endlessly about it since she only did this to ascertain if I liked Harry romantically. Truthfully, I don't think I'll really ever let her live it down.

"Right." Mrs. Weasley said picking up the flower pot and bringing it over to Harry. "Here we are. Harry, you go first."

"But Harry's never traveled by floo powder before, Mum. Neither has Did." Ron said with a worried look on his face, his voice starting to crack. Oh puberty.

"Floo powder?" Harry asked as he and I shared identical faces of confusion.

"Well, you go first, Ron, so that Harry can see how it's done." Mrs. Weasley coaxed as we were already pressed for time. Ron stepped into the fireplace and grabbed the powder which just looked like regular ash to me. Mrs. Weasley backed us up as Ron shouted clearly "Diagon Alley!" He threw the powder down and was consumed by green flames.

Immediately I shouted "Oh my gosh! Is he dead?" Fred and George just laughed at my reaction while I stared at them in complete horror. Their brother just burst into flames and all they could do was laugh?

"Relax, dear." Mrs. Weasley said resting a hand on my shoulder while I stared at the fireplace in unrefined terror. I thought _'There is no way they're getting me in that thing!'_ They did. "Ron's just gone to another Floo Network. Now Harry it's your turn. It's quite easy dear. No need to be afraid. Come on."

Harry was just as scared as I was and Mr. Weasley patted him on the back as he stiffly walked into the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley continued to coax "In you go. That's it, mind your head. That's right. Now, take your floo powder." Harry grabbed some of the powder in his hand, tiny flecks escaping his hand. "That's it. Don't forget to speak very, very clearly!"

Harry looked up at us, then me and he mouthed 'Bye', and shouted aloud "Diagonally!" and became consumed by the green flames like Ron.

"What did he say, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked her husband.

"Diagonally." He responded with a rather perturbed look on his face.

"I thought he did." Mrs. Weasley said a bit worried.

"Did Harry do something wrong?" I asked more than a little scared.

"Well, dear, if you don't say where you want to go _very _clearly, you could end up somewhere completely different than you intended. And it could be a bit difficult to get back if you don't know what you're doing." Mrs. Weasley said as gently as possible but then I started to freak out.

"You mean Harry could be in Turkmenistan and there's no way we could find him?" I shouted and then I started to hyperventilate. I guess the shock of the previous three days was finally taking its toll on me. It took a lot of coaxing and assurance from the others to get me to finally calm down, though I nearly went into another panic attack when they tried to get me to go into the floo network. Eventually I got through with Mrs. Weasley by my side and I was presented with Diagon Alley. There was too much for me to process all at once, or more accurately, too much for me to take in one glance to satisfy my wonderment. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments I had never seen before in Muggle stores, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon and just about anything you could think of associating with magic. Come to think of it, whenever I was someplace…magical, like Diagon Alley, I always calmed because it was just so pure.

While Mr. Weasley went searching for Harry, Mrs. Weasley helped Ginny and me get outfitted for our Hogwarts robes, and she even got us our wands. As cliché as this sounds, I can clearly remember the day I got my wand from Ollivander's like it was yesterday.

"Try this one." Mr. Ollivander said to me. Mr. Ollivander always had these eerie, moon-like eyes and made me a bit uncomfortable, because he seemed just as fascinated by the power of wands used for evil as those used for good. Ollivander remembered every wand he ever sold, and I remember that he greeted Ginny and me by rattling off the specifications of their some other person's wand.

He 'fitted' us for our wands by measuring nearly every part of our bodies; our arms, legs, heads, even waists, until he shooed the measuring tape away. He gave Ginny her first wand, which was a Holly, 8.5 inches with the core being the tail of a unicorn.

Next it was my turn and I tried a few wands, but I ended up flinging wands from shelves, toppling over one, and even doing a two-in-one but making a flower case exploded and when the water got on the floor making Mr. Ollivander slip. Finally we found the one.

I gave the wand a swish and red sparks shot out of the end, like a little fireworks wand.

"There we are. 9 ½ inches, hazel and dragon heartstring. Looks like someone takes no nonsense approaches, huh? Quite logical if you think about it. But rather unoriginal if you ask me…" I didn't the rest of what Mr. Ollivander said to me, I was too far into the euphoria of gaining my first wand. That was the first marker of proving that all of it was real, and not some strange dream that I would be forced to eventually be awakened from.

On the way to Flourish and Blott's, a large wizarding bookshop filled with shelves stacked to the ceiling and the primary –and perhaps only to my knowledge – supplier of textbooks for Hogwarts, I ran into Sable. I was walking excitedly through the streets of Diagon Alley, more excited than I had ever thought possible in my former life when I heard a woman gasp. Ahead of me a couple of elderly witches was pointing at a black cat with closed eyes and tried to avoid having the cat cross their path. Upon closer inspection I saw that the cat didn't have any eyes.

"Get that beast away from us!" one of them shouted as the poor cat was pushed away with their feet. It looked so skinny and helpless that it tore several strings in my heart.

"Oh, honestly, what are those two thinking?" Mrs. Weasley groaned. "It's already been disproven that black cats don't cause bad luck. One Animagus plays a nasty trick on a Muggle a thousand years ago and suddenly a larger than life rumor is born."

The poor cat was pretty small, small enough to be a kitten, but that didn't matter to the two elderly witches. One of them even drew their wands and was probably going to blast the poor thing if I hadn't – either bravely or stupidly – stepped in front of it.

"Stop it!" I shouted at the witch while the black kitten went hid me.

"Get out of the way girl. That thing's nothing good." The one holding the wand said.

"But you can't just kill it." I protested, my high voice going an octave higher.

"And why not?" The other asked rather smugly.

"Because…" I trailed off racking my dim 11-year-old brain for ideas when it hit me. Picking up the kitten, who had surprisingly let me pick her up, I said "…because she's my cat."

"Yours?" The one still holding the wand up asked incredulously.

"Yes, _mine_. And if you hurt him, or her, I'll report you and you'll be in a lot of trouble." I had absolutely no idea if this would work, and I prayed to whatever magical deity there was that Muggles and wizards shared at the very least animal police. That deity came to my aid as the witch finally put away her wand and carefully side stepped us both. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and the others came up to me as I held the kitten who had curled up in my arms.

"That was a very nice thing you did for that cat, but I'm afraid you're going to have to let her go." Mrs. Weasley said as though it hurt her to say it. Mrs. Weasley always had a kind heart and hated it when she had to break bad news to people she cared about, or at least liked.

"But I can't just leave it now. I'm too emocatively ingested." I said, making the others confused for a moment. Keep in mind that I often got words mixed up when I was younger, such as it took me almost a month to finally get 'Muggle' right.

"Emotionally invested?" Percy suggested.

"Um, sure?" I said unsure.

"But, dear, taking care of a pet is a big responsibility. Are you sure you're ready for it?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley. I'll make sure that Sable gets 2-3 meals a day with plenty of water, but make sure that she gets exercise so that she doesn't get chubby, cause that could cause some health problems, but make sure she's supervised so she doesn't catch a disease or get run over. Also I'll be sure to try and get routine vaccinations and check-ups, along with giving her a good grooming once a week." I could tell that the others were shocked by how much I knew. I always wanted a pet, as did Dudley, but because of Mother's OCD for cleanliness pet hair on the couches was a nightmare she was not willing to face. In fact, letting Hedwig live in Harry's room in her cage nearly drove her over the edge. However I did some research in the library and was prepared to make my case before the family before I got my letter.

"Sable?" Ginny asked coming next to me and petting the cat.

"Well she's got to have a name, doesn't she?" I said matter-of-factly.

"But how do you know that it's a girl?" Ginny asked. Good question. I lifted Sable up and checked before putting her back in my arms.

"Yep, it's a girl."

We went inside Flourish and Blotts and immediately I saw an oversized poster of a moving picture of a man. Obviously he was selling a book as half the store was littered with them: _Magical Me by Gilderoy Lockhart_. Mrs. Weasley seemed to like him but by his name alone I thought he was a pansy. That's where I met Hermione Granger.

"Hey, Hermione!" Ron called out and I recognized the girl from Harry's letters. I was amazed by just how much detail Harry went into them, but I thought that she was really pretty, and it made me a tad jealous. Okay, really jealous. We both had brown hair and eyes but I thought that she really made it work, and that I was just plain and boring. Oh the insecurities of a young girl, though they weren't nearly as bad as what someone might see in girls today.

"Hello Ronald." Hermione greeted politely, walking away from a man and woman I assumed were her parents. I began to feel even more jealous, but mostly I felt sad. Her parents were proud of her. Her parents came along with her. Then she spotted me and Ginny. "Hello, who are you?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley." Ginny introduced herself.

"I'm Did Dursley." I didn't want to make the mistake of telling anyone else my real name; otherwise they might think that I was okay with it.

"Dursley? Isn't that the same name as Harry's-oh, you must be his cousin. Dahlia, right?" She asked politely. Well that plan was thrown out the preverbal window.

"Yep, that's me. But if you don't mind I'd like it if you call me Did. Only my parents call me _that_." I could barely even say 'my parents' without some hurt coming into my heart. Hermione later explained this feeling as betrayal.

"Where are your parents? Were they not able to-" Hermione stopped when Ron ungraciously elbowed her. When she asked what he whispered something in her ear and her eyes became much more sympathetic. "Oh." She whispered with remorse like she did something wrong. Turning to me she said "Well don't worry. We're going to have lots of fun looking for you books. And if you ever need help with assignments or performing spells, just come straight to me, alright?" Hermione became a friend to me, but she also became a mentor. We were both Muggle-born and we were both going to be called some rather unsavory names, and I looked up to Hermione as a role model. She's like the older sister I never had.

We shopped around the store and Hermione saw something outside. She soon came in with Harry who looked far dirtier than the last time I saw him. He said he had been in Knockturn Alley, the polar opposite of Diagon Alley and somewhere you most certainly _do not_ want to get lost or stuck in.

After buying all the necessary books and other items, Mrs. Weasley said she wanted to her copy of _Magical Me_ signed by Lockhart himself, who happened to be autographing and taking picture for the wizard newspaper, _The Daily Prophet_. Luckily for me I was one of the few girls to avoid what I called 'Lockhart Love' and I saw him for what he was: a pompous show-off, later to be a pompous fraud.

"Oh, Harry. Thank goodness. We hoped that you'd only go one grate too far." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she brushed some dust off of Harry's robes. I then walked up to him and after putting Sable on the ground (she didn't move away from me) I punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" He protested. "What was that for?"

"For making me worry!" I shouted punching his other arm. "I went into a panic attack because of you!"

"Well it's not like I planned on it!" Harry exclaimed. In my defense, the relationship we had back then was a bit complicated. I had never even hugged him before so punching him in the arm was a form of 'tough love'.

Before I could say anymore a man announced "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart." All of the witches in the store, including Mrs. Weasley, started slapping enthusiastically as Lockhart came out from one of the entrances. I still don't understand why so many women were crazed with him, since to me he wasn't the least bit handsome. Sure he had golden, wavy (which I found out were caused by his wearing curlers and a hair net at night), with 'forget-me-not' blue eyes, and a supposed perfect smile and coiffed hair, I could see that he was somewhat good-looking to woman, even if he was old. However it was mostly his self-absorbed personality that was a huge turn-off for me. I already had enough of that selfish behavior from Dudley and my father, I didn't need any more.

"Mum fancies him." Ron teased and Mrs. Weasley pushed him playfully. Harry and I didn't really know what to do so we just clapped.

"Make way there, please!" A photographer said pushing through the crowd. "Let me by, Madam, thank you. Excuse me, little girl. This is for '_The Daily Prophet_'." He then took a picture of Lockhart who then noticed Harry, undoubtedly by his lightning shaped scar.

"It can't be Harry Potter?" Lockhart said astounded. Everyone then looked at him and the photographer grabbed Harry and pushed him towards Lockhart. Lockhart then proceeded to grab Harry and told him to smile as the camera flash went off. Lockhart then said "Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography _'Magical Me'_-" All the women, excluding me, clapped for Lockhart. Ron, Harry, myself and the others boys were the only sane ones back then, as none of us understood this craze. Lockhart was saying something else but I didn't listen. I started letting my gaze wonder around when I saw a boy where the same robes as Harry and Ron except with a different symbol on the chest, looking down at Harry with jealousy and a little bit of hurt. I _almost _felt bad for him.

We excited that hole, Mrs. Weasley offering to get all the books Lockhart gave Harry signed (he never read a single one), while the rest of us kids went off to do anything else.

The minute Harry stepped out of the crowd that same boy who looked at him with jealousy stepped out, letting me get a closer look. His eyes were gray and cold, not a look I thought I would see on a kid, with pale, white blond hair that was slicked back impeccably. I couldn't find a single hair out of place, nor anything else of such a nature. He had a pale, pointed face as he stared down at Harry who reciprocated those feelings of hate. This boy was Draco Malfoy.

He spoke in a tone that made me think that he must've thought he was better than everyone else. "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? _Famous Harry Potter_. Can't ever go into a bookshop without making the front page."

Ginny, brave little Ginny, stepped forward and gave him her best 11 year old glare. "Leave him alone."

The Malfoy laughed. "Oh, look, Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend." He was stopped when a cane weighed heavily down on his shoulder. The head of it looked like a snake with an open mouth, ready to kill its next meal. The man who held the cane was no less vicious. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold, gray eyes, and he walked lazily, like he didn't feel the need to walk faster for anyone.

"Now, now, Draco! Play nicely." The man said in a condescending tone that sent awful shivers up and down my spine, making me think of a scared cat like in cartoons. Speaking of cats Sable started to hiss at him which made the man make a disgusted and scary look on his face when he saw her. Deep down I knew that he was trouble so I picked up Sable and held her in my arms. He pushed the boy aside and turned to Harry. "Ah, Mr. Potter. Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last." He held out his hand for Harry to shake and once Harry let him have it he yanked him forward and used his cane to brush away Harry's bangs, giving him a clear view of his scar. "Forgive me. Your scar is legend. As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry said with the upmost revulsion yanking his arm out of Lucius Malfoy's arm. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

Mr. Malfoy looked unimpressed. "Hmm…you must be very brave to mention his name. Or very foolish."

I felt Hermione stand next to me and heard her say "Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself." There was neither hesitation nor uncertainty in her voice, and I respected that enough to nod my head in agreement.

Mr. Malfoy looked down on Hermione like he was surprised that she spoke, or in his mind, had enough brains to form a sentence. "And you must be Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's told me all about you…and your parents." He sneered, making Hermione look at her parents who were talking animatedly to Mr. Weasley. "Muggles, aren't they?" I didn't know what he meant at the time, but Hermione knew exactly what his feelings towards Muggles and Muggle-borns was and gave him a stink eye that could even have Dudley on his knees. He then noticed me. "I don't believe I know you. Tell me your name." There was no friendliness, only a command, and there was no way I was going to answer him because I already didn't like him. When he saw that I wouldn't answer him he stepped forward hoping to intimidate me "I said tell me your-" he stopped when just as he came within a foot of me Sable just yowled at him, giving him a surprise as she combined that with a hiss and even went as taking a swipe, making him fall back.

"My name is Dahlia Dursley, and she doesn't like strangers." I said matching Hermione's glare since I had a lot of practice with Dudley during our own fights.

"I've never heard of the 'Dursley's' in the Ministry, so it's safe to assume that your parents are…_Muggles_." He said the word or even looking at me physically pained him to even say it. With his arrogance and ignorance I'm sure it hurt his brain under all that hair to even think properly.

"Let me see." Mr. Malfoy continued turning to the Weasley's with the same arrogant look. "Red hair, vacant expressions, tattered second-hand books…" He pulled a book out of Ginny's cauldron. "…you must be the Weasley's."

Mr. Weasley then came to our rescue. "Children, it's made in here. Let's go outside." he said trying to keep it light for our sakes.

"Well, well, well, Weasley senior." Mr. Malfoy with contempt, Mr. Weasley turning to him and saying with the same clipped tone "Lucius."

"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur. All those extra raids. I do hope they're paying you overtime. But judging by the state of this, I'd say not." The tone of his voice riled me up like never before, and I had to squeeze Sable a little bit so I didn't burst something out and embarrass Mr. Weasley. "What's the use of being a disgrace of the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."

"Clearly." Malfoy replied looking at Hermione's parents again. "Associating with Muggles. And I thought your family could sink no lower-"

My temper had reached its boiling point, and I was sure that had nothing else stopped me then I would've thrown Sable as the older Malfoy or something. But Mr. Weasley beat me to it because the next thing I knew Mr. Weasley lunged forward, knocking Mr. Malfoy to the ground and started beating him up Muggle style. The younger Malfoy looked utterly panicked and shocked as both older men brawled on the floor, and though I'm not sure, I think that Mr. Weasley was winning. At least that's the story I like better. Hey, I never said I wasn't biased. I remember cheering for Mr. Weasley along with Fred and George unashamedly as Mrs. Weasley soon came along and started shouting fearfully as the men rolled around, soon gaining a lot of attention from the customers and the shop assistant.

"Gentlemen, please – please!" shouted the shop assistant as he pushed his way through the gathered crowd, watching in horror as the two men knocked over stacks of books and expensive looking artifacts, "Break it up there, gents, break it up-" he tried again but to no avail, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy didn't stop their fight until Hagrid barged through the shop door and separated them.

Red faced, flustered and furious the two men eyed each other angrily, Mr. Weasley sporting and bloody lip and Malfoy holding a hand in front of his eye where he had presumably been hit by a book. Having enough of being stared at Mr. Malfoy charged forwards, thrust Ginny's book back into her cauldron (I thought it sounded louder than it should have), insulted Mr. Weasley once more, and stormed off, beckoning for Draco to follow him. The younger Malfoy did as asked, sending all of us supporting Mr. Weasley a cold glare before heading after his father.


	7. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizard

**Incredibly sorry for the long delay, and by the time you guys read the AN at the end of the chapter, you're probably going to hate me more so- *runs off***

**Disclaimer: I own only Dahlia. Everything else is owned by the lovely and talented J.K Rowling. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

Going to King's Cross Station, more specifically going to Hogwarts for the first time, was the first time my nerves were so wracked, apart from the time when I thought I was going to die in a forest when I was eight, though that was minor compared to that feeling. I was just so excited and scared and so many other things all at once, but almost equal to my feelings of anxiety I felt…_happy_. For the first time, I didn't have to worry about how I acted around Harry so that I could make my parents happy. And while in my first year I was still coping with my feelings of rejection I received from my family, it was made easier because Harry told me that at Hogwarts all the people had magic and didn't call each other freaks.

We hurried to King Cross because, unfortunately, while Mr. Weasley's magical Ford Anglia was great for flying in the air, it was incredibly slow on the ground, especially in early morning Muggle traffic.

"10:58. Come on, come on!" Mr. Weasley urged as we pushed our carts towards Platform ¾, which made no sense to me because I thought even that was a little impossible.

"The train will be leaving at any moment!" Mrs. Weasley said walking alongside us as we hurried past the platforms. Platform 6…Platform 7…Platform 8…

"Fred, George, Percy, you first." Mr. Weasley instructed and the three said boys pushed their carts faster and ran straight at the wall between Platforms 9 and 10. But before I thought any of them would crash, they simply disappeared and not a single Muggle saw them.

I looked up at Mrs. Weasley who nodded reassuring. "I'll explain it to you later, but for now if you're nervous, it's best to get a running start. Ok." She said giving Ginny a kiss on the cheek and she pushed her cart forward towards the wall and disappeared as well. I steeled myself and looked over at Sable. "You ready, girl?"

She meowed in response from her place in her cage, and with all my might I pushed the cart and ran straight at the wall. Just before I was supposed to make a collision I ran straight through the wall and was met with an entire station entirely its own. Looking back at the barrier there is a wrought-iron archway with the words "platform nine and three-quarters," and there was a scarlet steam train billowing smoke. On the engine was the number 5672. Steam from the scarlet engine floods the platform as cats wind their way around the wizards' legs and owls hoot to each other. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley soon came along and led Ginny and I to the Hogwarts train where we got into our own compartment. I noticed that neither Harry nor Ron had gotten on, even as the hiss of the pistons fills the platform as the train began to move out of the station as family members stood on the platform and waved their children off to school. I felt a pang in my heart when I saw this because I knew that there was no one there to wave me off, and I couldn't help but feel a mixture of envy and hurt as Ginny waved to her parents, something I would never be able to do in my seven years there.

I won't bore you with the details of the train ride, just mainly that Ginny and I found our own compartment until we were joined by a strange girl by the name of Luna Lovegood. So yes, I suppose this does count as boring details.

Ginny and I were talking about how we didn't see either Harry or Ron coming into the station when the compartment door opened up. There standing in the doorway with a dreamy look in her protuberant silvery grey eyes, was a girl our age with shoulder length, straggly, dirty blond hair. There were two things that I could always identify Luna by. The first being that nearly no matter the occasion she would always seem to be dreamily distracted her eyes wide and her eyebrows faint. The second was her voice that was permanently in a dreamy state that gave off the aura of distinct dottiness.

"Hello," she said dreamily, then holding out a copy of a magazine with strange pictures on the cover. "Would you like this month's edition of _The Quibbler_? There's a special feature about the Rotfang Conspiracy." Ginny and I looked at each other from across our seats with confused expressions on our faces. Even with my then limited knowledge of the Wizarding World, this sounded quite strange.

I looked at the girl and said "Sure. How much will it cost?" I hoped that it wouldn't cost much since I only had a few knuts with me from shopping in Diagon Alley and buying treats from the trolley lady.

"Well, you're the first ones I asked who accepted so you can get it for free." She said passing it to me and I could see why people didn't take it. Just by the appearance it looked like one of the strangest things I had ever seen. I handed it to Ginny who gained the same expression I held not 10 seconds before and I turned to thank the girl. "Thank you…what's your name again?"

"Luna Lovegood. May I ask your names as well? And may I sit down because my feet are becoming quite sore." She asked though by the look on her face no one could've guessed that she was uncomfortable.

"Oh sure. Sorry. I'm Dahlia Dursley, though I like to be called either DD or Did, and this is Ginny Weasley." I said scooting over so that she could sit down. She gave out a little sigh of relief with a comfortable smile on her face. I then noticed that she was wearing what looked like a beaded necklace with a bottle cork as an accessory and radish earrings. This was no doubt Luna's signature fashion sense that many other people made fun of her for. I found it strange but learned that after entering a strange world from my normal and admittedly boring one, I try not to be too prejudiced.

"What are those?" Ginny asked pointing to Luna's accessories.

Luna got a look in her eyes and I could tell that she was excited that someone asked. First she showed us the cork necklace. "This is a butterbeer cork necklace and it keeps away the Nargles."

"What's a Nargle?" I asked looking at Ginny but she shrugged just as clueless as I was.

"They're mischievous thieves who live in mistletoes, and they enjoy taking people's shoes and hanging them in strange places." Luna said and Ginny raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe her. Frankly even I was a bit wary but I decided to drop it. Luna was…different than most girls I had met before, but indefinitely nicer and far more polite. However I was always a bit freaked out that I never saw her blink at a "normal" rate.

"What houses do you think you'll be in?" Luna asked out of the blue after an uncomfortable silence (at least for Ginny and me) took hold of the compartment.

"I hope I'm in Gryffindor like the rest of my family. My brothers Fred and George said they'd disown me if I was in Slytherin." Ginny said with a shudder I did not understand.

"What's so bad about Slytherin?" I asked Ginny. All I got from Harry's letters were that it was supposedly 'the worst house anyone could get stuck in' but he failed to elaborate further.

"Oh I forgot. You don't know much about Hogwarts." Ginny said without a trace of mockery in her voice, just simple reasoning. "Well there are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and _Slytherin_. My whole family's been in Gryffindor, well expect one of my mum's cousins but we don't talk much about him. Gryffindor, from what my brothers have told me, is mostly about being brave and chivalrous, though I've yet to see that at home."

"Don't forget Ravenclaw." Luna piped up in that same dreamy voice. "Ravenclaw is for people who value wisdom over bravery or ambition. That's why I'm wearing dirigible plum, or radish, earrings. My Daddy told me that to wear one means that one's wisdom will increase."

I wasn't sure if I believed her but I didn't comment. However tempting it might be to get intelligence boost, and don't think I'll ever be quite ready to hang vegetables from my earlobes. "Hey, Luna." I asked and she turned to me with an 'Hmm?' "Have any of your family gone to Hogwarts before?"

"My Daddy and my mummy. They met there because they were in the same house, which was Ravenclaw."

"So do they always choose a house based on the families?" I asked both the girls.

"Not sure." Luna replied. "Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't."

"Gee, that helps." I said slumping into my seat. I was really worried because since so far I had only met people who had magic in their families already, well other than Hermione but we never really got the chance to talk about it until after the Sorting, and I didn't know how'd I'd end up. I felt like I could be in Slytherin, the supposed worst house ever, because I was pretty aggressive and mean. I didn't feel ordinary enough to be in Hufflepuff, not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, and certainly not brave enough to be in Gryffindor.

The rest of the time I was stuck in a daze. I just remember Ginny practically dragging me out of the train, towards Hagrid who gave me a friendly welcome though I was too terrified to answer, onto the boats and before I knew it we were in the castle. We were met by Professor McGonagall, an elderly woman wearing square glasses that mirrored her beady eyes. She looked everything like a strict teacher with her black hair pulled back into a tight bun and frown lines on her face. She was definitely not a woman who smiled a lot, but one of the things that I wondered most about her is what she would look like if she really smiled. I just had a feeling that it would look fantastic.

Professor McGonagall led us into the Great Hall which was already filled up with older students who looked straight at us as we followed after Professor McGonagall. I'm not the type of girl who scares easily, so entering the Great Hall for the first time was one of the few things that terrified me. The Great Hall was a vast chamber with an enchanted ceiling that mirrored the sky outside, and at that moment it reflected a dark yet surprisingly calming sky with stars decorated in a fantastic pattern. There were four long tables in the Great Hall, and I soon learned that from the Entrance Hall perspective the Slytherins were closest to the doors, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff and next to the far wall was Gryffindor. The teachers sat at the High Table, a table raised platform at the front of the room.

I stayed close to Ginny and Luna while Professor McGonagall brought out an old and battered leathery hat. The Sorting Hat was patched, frayed and extremely dirty. There was a tear along the brim that opened like a mouth as it began to sing. It rambled a song of introduction, which I learned was different every year, but it still held the same basic information of how it was bewitched to perform the sorting and what one would need to go into a house.

Finally when the rather dreadful song ended Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll and announced that she was about to call on the names. I had begun to think of all the things that might put me in any of the houses. Like I said before, I wasn't brainy enough to be in Ravenclaw but I wasn't stupid, I left that up to my brother. I felt like Hufflepuff was too ordinary but it was still up there. That left Gryffindor and Slytherin. For some terrifying moments I though that I would end up in Slytherin because of all the times I made fun of Harry or took shots at my brother. I didn't even hear it when Professor McGonagall when she called Colin Creevey's name, but I was pulled out of my mind's state of silent panic when I heard her announce "Dahlia Dursley!"

I found myself frozen in place and probably would've stayed that way had it not been for Ginny who pushed me forward. I cleared by throat and focused on my breathing while I started up the steps towards the three-legged stool upon which the Sorting Hat sat. Professor McGonagall lifted it up and after a moment of trepidation I sat down. Soon the Hat was placed on my head and covered my eyes so that the only thing I could see was the floor.

"_Now what do we have here?"_ A voice suddenly questioned in my head, and luckily it only took me a moment to figure out that it was the Hat. _"A muggle-born witch. And related to Harry Potter no less."_

"_**Um, sorry to interrupt but are you going to sort me now or what? I'm about to puke."**_

"_Impatient it seems. Let's take a look at what's inside, shall we? Hmm, enough wit but wisdom? I think not. Not knowledgeable enough, nor enough willingness to become, to be in Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff? No, far too impatient. So this only leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin. You know, only your cousin gave me this much trouble at deciding."_

"_**Well go on ahead. I'm just sitting here and slightly freaking out." **_I thought back sarcastically. I was only about 20 seconds into this discussion and I was already done with it.

"_Still impatient. That's a trait that isn't going to go away easily, now is it? Let me see…Slytherin perhaps? Possibly…you can be resourceful if needed, and can also be ruthless when it comes to gaining revenge." _I immediatelythought back to a time when I was nine, when Dudley ripped the head off of one of my dolls, and I got back at him by not only rippingoff the heads of all of his toys, but also (unknowingly by magic) hanging them from his room's ceiling. Needless to say that Dudley was sufficiently scared and never touched my things again.

"_**Well, yeah…but that doesn't meant that I should be in Slytherin." **_I pleaded but he ignored me.

"_However, Gryffindor may also be a good fit."_

"_**Huh?"**_

"_You were willing to defend your cousin and run away from home when your family strictly forbade it. That takes some nerve."_ I honestly hadn't thought of that. I was so focused on the bad things that I never truly considered the good things. The Hat then said _"Yes, the choice is much clearer now. You should be in…"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat shouted out loud and the table I guessed was Gryffindor cheered at gaining a new member. Professor McGonagall took the hat away from my eyes and I practically ran towards Ginny to give her a hug before going to sit next to Hermione who had saved me a seat. I was so happy at that moment I thought my face would break from the great smile I had placed there. Soon the Hat placed Luna into Ravenclaw and Ginny in Gryffindor, of course. She went to sit by me and together we gushed over having been sorted into the same house. I was certainly glad that I wouldn't be alone away from the people who had become, or would become, my greatest friends. Though one question kept nagging at me:

Where were Harry and Ron?

**So I said that you would hate me by the end of this chapter and here's the answer. I am going to change my review rule for all my stories so now instead of 5 reviews for each chapter I'm asking for…10 for each. Now I hope that it's not too bad for any of you, so I'm enforcing this…now!**

**Bye! **


	8. First Days Were Never So Interesting

**Holy mother of…! I got more reviews for the last chapter than I have yet, and now I've got 68 reviews! Thanks!**

**Oh, and **_**Dracarot**_**, you kind of scare me a little. **

**Also go back to the previous chapter and check out the part after Dahlia gets sorted. **

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**First Days Were Never So Interesting**

I saw both Harry and Ron at breakfast the next morning looking healthy and full of life. I was quick to diminish that.

Adjusting my red hair bow so that it wouldn't fall out of my hair while I prepared to kick Harry's arse, I walked ahead of Ginny whom I had been walking with I walked up straight to Harry who was about to sit down when he spotted me.

He started "Oh, hi D-" I punched him in the gut before he could finish that sentence. He let out a groan of pain that caught the attention of several people from both the Gryffindor table, our table, and the Ravenclaw table next to us. "What was that for?"

"Where were you? Do you have any idea how scared I was?" I shouted punching him again, this time in the arm.

"What's going on?" A boy with a short boy with a chubby faced asked one of his friends next to him. _That_ was Neville Longbottom, undoubtedly one of the people who would become my closest friend, ally and more. In my first year I thought that he was rather unfortunate looking, and because of my child innocence I never truly thought much about getting boyfriends back then. However, Neville was a good person at heart and I came to love that about him. But more on that later.

"Looks like Potter's got a girlfriend. A little young, ain't she?" A boy, Irish by the sound of his accent, joked around and I spun and glared at him. He name: Seamus Finnigan. He is a Half-blood, his father being a Muggle while his mother was a witch, but she didn't tell him that until _after _they were married. Seamus said that it was a 'bit of a nasty shock for him.' Seamus was notorious in the Gryffindor house as the 'fire waiting to happen', a name he earned because somehow he managed to set fire to nearly everything he tried in his classes, almost as much as Neville.

"I'm not his girlfriend, I'm his cousin." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I was dragged down by a group of students in Harry's year who started asking 'Are you really Harry's cousin?', 'When's his birthday?', 'What's his favorite color?', and so on. I swear I thought I was going to suffocate if Ginny, sweet and wonderful Ginny, hadn't quite literally pulled me out of the lion's den and brought me over to the protection of Hermione who sent a scalding look at the others as if daring them to try and talk to me.

Luckily for me they left well enough alone and breakfast resumed normally enough. I learned from Harry and Ron that they had been blocked out of Platform 9 ¾ and couldn't get to Hogwarts. Not wanting to test if Mr. or Mrs. Weasley could get back out, they decided to take the flying Ford Anglia and fly to Hogwarts. They almost made a safe landing until their tank ran out of gas and they dive bombed into the Whomping Willow, a tree on the grounds that had a nasty temper and lived up to its name by launching those heavy branches at anyone who would come near. They were caught by Filch and it turns out that they were seen by seven Muggles who had to have their memories altered by the Obliviators. They wouldn't be expelled, but they would have to serve a pretty lengthy detention with McGonagall.

During breakfast we received our schedules and I had Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts (**DADA) **in the day and Astronomy at _midnight_. I had History of Magic and Herbology with Luna. I had all of my classes with Ginny as we were both in Gryffindor, but unfortunately that meant I also had all of those classes with Lyra. I tried to speculate many times as to why Lyra would always stare at me but barely talked to me. Ginny didn't like that about her so she always tried to 'protect' me, but I think that just made Lyra all the more determined.

Our first was Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick, and I wasn't terrible at it. I was wretched. Professor Flitwick set us up for a simple color changing spell, just make your quill the color blue, and I wanted to get it right. However I got nervous when a bunch of boys not five seats from me began mucking about. I did change my quill partially blue…but then I also did the same thing to Professor Flitwick's entire body. The entire class that it was absolutely hysterical, and if it wasn't me who did it then I would've too. (He did look like Smurf). He gave me a detention, but I guessed that the humiliation was enough. It didn't help that Ginny was the first one to almost nail it.

Potions wasn't totally unbearable. I think I would've enjoyed it a lot if our teacher wasn't a total arse to everyone except the Slytherins. Professor Snape, I had been warned, was one of the worst teachers a Gryffindor could have. He could never be pleased by anything anyone did. Everyone knew that he hated everyone as much as everyone hated him, but I think-in fact I know that he hated Harry almost more than anyone else. He regarded me with a similar animosity but not nearly as scorching. Besides those negative points I actually did like Potions. It was actually one of my best classes, and would have been my favorite if not for Snape who constantly checked for error and breathed down my neck, all of all our necks actually. Anyways, in Potions I could actually understand the instructions clearly enough, and what I didn't understand I experimented. That didn't always work out so well but with it working 95% of the time it was worth it.

Before I knew it the first few classes came to an end and lunch rolled around. That's when I learned just how lucky I was that my parents were Muggles.

Remember that 'bloody menace of a bird' that was the Weasley's owl Errol. Well he decided to make another appearance by quite literally crash landing into a bowl of chips. Other kids from other tables started laughing while Ron plucked a red envelope from Errol's mouth. I thought he might've been dead until he suddenly hopped back up and flew away. Then Ron whimpered "Oh no!"

"Look everyone! Weasley's got himself a Howler!" Seamus called out and everyone laughed in anticipation. For those who are lucky enough not to know, a Howler is a magical letter in a red envelope which plays a recorded message at a very high volume. The physical temperature of the Howler begins to rapidly increase upon delivery. The purpose of the Howler is to deliver a message expressing anger or great displeasure in a manner which standard writing cannot adequately convey.

"Open it Ron. I got one from my gran once and I ignored it – it was horrible." What Neville was talking about was that if a Howler is left unopened for too long, it will explode. This will ensure that the recipient will open the Howler, even though he or she knows that it contains an unpleasantly loud message.

With shaking hands Ron broke the seal of the letter to be met with the booming voice of his mother shouting "RONALD WEASLEY!" Ron dropped the Howler in fright but it didn't matter. The Howler animated envelope as a mouth with teeth, simulated by the red envelope and white paper, with a ribbon for the tongue, and continued "How dare you steal that car? I am absolutely disgusted! You father's facing an inquiry at work, and it's ENTIRELY your fault! If you another TOE out of line, we're sending you STRAIGHT HOME!" The Howler then turned towards Ginny and I, softening Mrs. Weasley's voice as it said "Oh, Ginny, Dahlia, congratulations to you both on making Gryffindor. Mr. Weasley and I are so proud." The Howler then blew a raspberry at Ron before bursting into flames.

I was a little embarrassed but I was definitely happy. Mrs. Weasley didn't even know me that well and she was already giving me such love. Sometimes I think that the world would be a much better place if people like Mrs. Weasley, Harry or others like them inhabited it more than the bad. Unfortunately the world isn't perfect and I don't think it ever will. We can only hope to make it as great as possible, though that always required more sacrifice.

Gilderoy Lockhart is by far one of the stupidest people I have ever met. To this day I still don't understand why Dumbledore would place an idiot like that in that position in the first place, though I can't help but wonder if there was some point to it since it was Dumbledore after all. First off, the only thing he could talk about for the first 20 minutes was about his new 'best-selling' book, _Magical Me_. Bleh! Finally when he shut up about his book he gave us a pop quiz. Harry told me that while the quizzes and tests were hard, the subject was very interesting. But not when it was completely comprised over an egotistical fake.

I was thrilled after that class was over and a little relieved first day was as well, but that didn't mean that I enjoyed staying up. While the rest of my dorm mates, which included Ginny, the ever nosy Rose Brown and the loner Lyra Macnair, who kept staring at me for no apparent reason, slept, I stared out of the window watching the moon. I wondered what my parents were doing right now, I wondered if they missed me. Hell, I even wondered if Dudley acknowledged my disappearance. They would've gotten the letter I sent them by now, so I fantasized that my mother was crying with relief and father was overjoyed that his little girl was safe and relatively happy. But I knew that that was unlikely, even then I knew things can never go back to being the way they were.

"What are you doing?" A dreary voice asked and I turned to see Lyra staring at me again. I learned from Fred and George that the Macnair's were suspected Death Eaters, supporters of Voldemort. However like the Malfoy's they were able to convince the Wizengamot that they had 'turned a new leaf' so to speak, but everyone knew that the parents and even children were deeply invested into the Dark Arts, which is why it came as such a surprised to everyone about how the daughter of a Death Eater could've been sorted into Gryffindor, the supposed Death Eater free zone.

"Go back to sleep." I said turning away to the window but she didn't get the message. Barely a second later and Lyra sat next to me with her arms clenching her knees to her chest. I always knew that Lyra was a very private if not suspicious girl, but she never did anything that would make me think that she would hurt me or anyone else on purpose. If anything the only problem I had was that she stared at me with an unfaltering gaze that often times unnerved me.

She stared at me again, this time into my eyes, before saying "I know that look."

"What look?" I asked getting defensive.

"You're worried about what your parents will think about you." When she saw my confused face she continued "A lot of kids in Slytherin house have that look on their face when they come home from Hogwarts."

"How do you know so much? You're only a first year."

"My brother went here before me. He doesn't anymore."

"You mean he graduated?" I asked and she got an even sadder look on her face.

"Sort of. Goodnight." Lyra quickly stood up and pulled the curtains around her bed, leaving me alone with my now heart-breaking, sad thoughts. How pathetic do you have to be to celebrate the first night at school to wallow over your parents who seem to hate you? Not much, you just had to be me.

**Alright not the best ending but it's all I've got. **

**Bye! **


	9. A Very Foul Name

**I didn't get the ten reviews (only eight) but I'm impatient so I decided to update. I think I'm accidently updating on Sundays regularly, though I'm not sure.**

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**A Very Foul Name**

The one thing I've most disliked about myself was that even if I try really hard, I can remember the bad things more clearly than the good things. Like the first time I got into a fight with Dudley (which was pretty early) and the time when I thought I was going to die in the park. One predominant bad memory was the first time someone called me a Mudblood.

There I was, minding my own business as I walked to Herbology with Luna who was going on about how Wrackspurts seem to like going into happy couples heads when two Slytherin girls in our year bumped into us - Artemis Fowles and Arabella Rykers. I told them to watch they were going, and in response Artemis of them called me a Mudblood. I had no idea what that meant at the time but Luna did, and she in her own way told them that Nargles were going to steal their shoes and tie their hair to their beds in their sleep. They just laughed at her and unofficially dubbed her 'Loony Lovegood'. They both called me a Mudblood one more time before walking away cackling. I turned to Luna and asked why she didn't fight back, and she said that she didn't mind because she knew what she was, but she (in her dreamy way) seemed angry that they had called me a Mu- you get the point.

I heard this again later on when Hermione was helping me with my History of Magic homework and helping Ron with Potions homework when we heard a commotion ahead of us. We saw the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams facing off.

"Uh-oh. I smell trouble." Ron said and we put our books away to hear the conversation. We heard Oliver Wood, the Quidditch obsessed captiain of the Gryffindor team, recite from a scroll that Marcus Flint, a dentist's worst nightmare aka the Slytherin Quidditch captain, that said "_I, Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission practice today, owing the need train our new Seeker._ You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

The Slytherins parted in order to make way for Slytherins greatest prat, Draco Malfoy, the same person I felt sorry for at Flourish and Blot's.

Harry looked the most surprised. "Malfoy?"

"That's right." the blond snake said arrogantly. "And that's not all that's new this year." He purposefully switched his broom from his right to left shoulder and I saw what he meant. The brooms the Slytherins had in their possession were different and definitely newer than the Gryffindors had.

Ron exclaimed "Those are Nimbus 2001's! How did you get those?"

"A gift from Draco's father." Sneered Flint, whose crooked teeth showed when he cracked his lips into a dirty smile.

The blond snaked continued arrogantly "You see Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best."

"Well at least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy _their way in." Hermione said snidely. "They got in on pure talent."

Malfoy stalked forward towards Hermione and said loud enough so that everyone could hear "No one asked for your opinion…you filthy little Mudblood." There was a collective gasp of surprise from the Gryffindors and by the looks of outrage on their faces they were looking for blood. Malfoy blood.

"You'll pay for that one Malfoy." Ron said staring at Malfoy like he was the most disgusting creature ever to walk to surface of the earth. He drew his broken wand and shouted "Eat slugs!" he waved his wand but the spell backfired and he was thrown backwards. Hermione, Harry and I tried to help him but he started throwing up slugs. Groans of disgust came from everyone, but the ever hyper Colin Creevey tried to sneak in a picture before Harry told him to go away. Harry and Hermione helped Ron up and said that they were taking him to see Hagrid.

I turned on Malfoy with a glare of my own. I didn't know what that word meant. But even I wasn't that thick not to see the look of repressed pain in Hermione's eyes when he called her that, or the look of anger in Ron's and the Gryffindors since they were the same as Luna's.

Malfoy noticed my glare and sneered "What are you looking at Mu-" you can probably guess what he was going to call me. Apparently he liked calling people very foul names and didn't heed the fact that there was an entire team of pro-Muggle and Muggle-born wizards willing to draw purist blood. I suppose he thought that since he was the only Seeker the other Slytherins would protect him. What he didn't count on was a blind black cat appearing out of nowhere and jumping on him. You should've heard him scream like a girl. Sable gave him a nice pat on the cheek with her claws before hopping off and landing in my open arms.

Malfoy stumbled back and would've fallen if Flint hadn't caught him and heaved him back up. Malfoy's pale face was starting to turn red with anger as he placed a hand on the cheek that Sable scratched. "That bloody cat tried to kill me!"

"Oh no, no, no." I said sweetly, though the smug smile on my face gave me away. "Sable would never try to kill anyone. Perhaps maim, or seriously injure. Never kill."

"My father will hear about this!" Malfoy promised and the Slytherins stalked towards the Quidditch pitch. When Malfoy passed me Sable gave a frightening hiss that sounded more like a yowl, one that made him jump in surprise before scurrying off. I laughed so much that I had to put Sable down, and she just rubbed herself against my leg. I smiled fondly at her while the other Gryffindors laughed at the Slytherins retreating forms. I knew that we would have a lot of adventures later and I kenw that I could always count on her.

.

.

.

"He actually called you that?" Ginny practically screamed when we were at the Halloween dinner, earning looks from everyone within ear shot. I was sitting mainly with her but I could still feel the lingering presence of Lyra as she was becoming more and more bold, at least when it came to me. For months Lyra barely talked to me, and only did so when absolutely necessary. A few "Hello's" and "Can you pick up my quill?"'s were all I got, but that was a vast difference from the rest of the Hogwarts population. She wouldn't refused to talk to any of the Gryffindors (besides me), didn't really go to any of the Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, and outright avoided any and all Slytherins like they were the plague, though by the way they called her a 'blood traitor' behind her back the feeling was mutual. And she used to sit by herself during breakfast, lunch, dinner, classes, break time, really any time. But now she was slowly edging her way closer…to me. Creepy. Ginny didn't trust her because she said her family had been supporters of You-Know-Who (Ginny flinched every time I called her Voldemort so I called him that for her sake). And even if she was in Gryffindor, who her parents were apparently that still made her a distrustful character. You learn something every day, and that day I learned that even Gryffindors can be huge hypocrites.

"Yeah, he even called Hermione that." I said and Ginny's face became as red as her hair.

"That twat! He is _so _getting a Bat-Bogey hex for sure."

"Ginny, what does that name even mean?"

Ginny sighed. "It's a really foul name for someone with non-magic parents, like you and Hermione."

"But why would they do that?"

"Mum says that there are people who pride themselves on being 'pure-blood'. They think that they're better than everyone else but it's not true. They're noses are just too high in the air to look what's down below."

"So you've met my mum?" I asked and this caused us both to laugh a bit. I still felt a bit of pain from my parent's rejection but as the days went by at Hogwarts the pain started to lessen. "So, does that mean that all Slytherins say that, because a couple of Slytherin girls called me that and-"

"They called you that too!" This time she did scream and the room went silent. People stared at the two of us like we were crazy. I chuckled nervously and tried to diffuse the tension, and whispered to Ginny "Shout it out loud, why don't you? Yes, I was walking with Luna when we bumped into a couple of Slytherins. I told them to watch where they were going, and then they called me a Mudblood."Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lyra's head snap up and I could feel her eyes on me. I ignored it and continued "Anyways, it sort of made Luna mad, if Luna can get mad, and she said that Nargles were going to steal their shoes and tie their hair to their bed posts, then laughed and called her 'Loony' and left."

I probably should've told her when we were alone, because the way I saw it she was going to explode in a raging Weasley fury. Lucky for us a distraction came in the form of Lyra standing up with her utensils clattering on a plate and leaving in a hurry. Ginny was distracted from her burning fury long enough to stare at Lyra's retreating form. I tried to move my hand but found that my robe sleeve had caught on something. I looked down and gasped in surprise. I don't know how but I didn't even notice that Ginny had taken her fork and narrowly stabbed me in the hand, thank Merlin that she only snagged my robe.

"Ginny?" I asked with a blank look on my face.

"Hmm?" She hummed staring suspiciously at Lyra.

"Could you please remove your fork from my robe?" My question caught her off guard and she started apologizing when she saw what she had done. It took the two of us to finally pull it out, and when it did the force knocked something out of Ginny's robes and fall to the floor. Lying there was a black diary that was quickly picked up by Ginny and held tightly to her chest. "What's that?"

"Nothing." She said quickly trying to stow it away back in her robes but the fumbling of her hands didn't help the matter.

"It doesn't look like nothing. What is it? You diary or something?" I joked but Ginny didn't find it funny.

"Yeah, so what if it is? It's not like it's any of your business." I felt like I was slapped at the sharp tone Ginny took with me.

"Okay, sorry. No need to bite my head off. You nearly stabbed my hand. Doesn't my body have enough abuse already?"

Ginny didn't talk to me for the rest of dinner which unnerved me a little, and it would only get worse. Everyone had to take the Entrance hallway to get to their stairs where they would separate in order to get into their dorms. However something was there that chilled us all to the bone. We saw Harry, Hermione and Ron staring at Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hanging by her tail with her mouth wide open on a bar. And if that wasn't bad enough, written next to her in what I prayed wasn't human blood, was a spine shivering message _"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware."_

"_Enemies of the heir beware_?" Malfoy sent both Hermione and I a look of triumph and disgust. "You'll be next Mudbloods."

"What's going on here?" Filch rang out shoving through the students. "Come on, make way, make way. Potter, what are you-" he stopped dead when he caught sight of Mrs. Norris. Even though the man has been and always will be nasty, at that moment I couldn't help but feel the smallest amount of pity for him. If it was Sable up there, I'm pretty sure some tears would've come out. And I am _not _a crier. "Mrs. Norris?" He asked totally heartbroken. He then turned his now hate filled gaze towards Harry. "Y-Y-You've murdered my cat."

Harry looked scared, or shocked, by the accusation and quickly denied it. "No, no I didn't-"

Filch wouldn't listen. "I'll kill ya." he said with a murderous smile coming to his face while he fisted Harry's collar. "I'll kill ya!"

"Argus!" Dumbledore, bless his soul, saved Harry from Filch's inevitable wrath by stepping in with McGonagall, Snape and, ugh, Lockhart following him. "Argus, I-"they too stopped when they saw the message on the wall. After a moment of deliberation, Dumbledore said "Everyone, will proceed to their dormitories immediately." We made a move back until he continued "Everyone except…you three." and pointed at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

I had to go to detention with McGonagall because I 'accidently' set Sable of a Slytherin boy who was making fun of Luna, so I didn't get to the dormitories until nearly everyone was asleep. I say nearly because Lyra got in at the same time I did, which I thought that it was very suspicious that she was the only one who was not there when we found Mrs. Norris, and that she left in a big hurry during dinner. Not to mention her behavior was pretty distrustful, and I could practically feel when her eyes were on me. After what Ginny told me about purebloods hatred of Muggles and Muggle-borns, I wondered if Lyra felt the same way. What if the reason she stared at me was because she wanted to hurt me? What if she was the one who opened this Chamber of Secrets? All of these terrible questioned were on my mind, even after I shut my eyes and fell asleep.

**Ah yes, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened indeed. But instead of Ginny it's poor Lyra who's under questioning. Prejudice goes a long way doesn't it? Hey, I never said Did was perfect. **

**Review rule is still up and more than one sentence reviews are greatly appreciated.**

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	10. Quidditch Just Isn't My Thing

**New pic of Dahlia on profile. **

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Quidditch Just Isn't My Thing **

The Chamber of Secrets was on everyone's minds ever since that dreadful was written. Thank goodness it was only chicken blood that it was written in, as Harry told me, but that didn't totally unsettle me. Frankly nothing did when Hermione told me what the Chamber OF Secrets really was.

"_I asked Professor McGonagall today in Transfiguration. You know that Hogwarts was founded in medieval Times by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Now three of the founders – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw – existed harmoniously, but Slytherin did not. He thought that only wizards with all magic families should be allowed to study at Hogwarts, which, if left up to him, meant that Muggle-borns like us wouldn't be allowed to attend. After failing to convince the other founders, he left the school but made sure to leave something behind. It was rumored that he built a hidden chamber in the castle, more specifically somewhere in the dungeons, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Before he left, he sealed it until his heir would return to release a monster that was kept inside."_

"_Why would anyone keep a monster in there?"_

"_Simple: he wanted to get purge the school of Muggleborns."_

"_Hermione, who do you think is the Heir of Slytherin?"_

"_I don't know, but whoever it is must have an intense hatred of Muggleborns. And unfortunately, they must be incredibly clever and dangerous."_

Ever since then I've been tailing Lyra as much as I could without getting caught, though there were a few times where I thought that she saw me. I wanted to make sure it was her before I started pointing fingers, but I certainly wasn't going to let my guard down around her. My supposed 'evidence' was that she came from an all magic family, seemed to hate me, never talked to anyone, and was always off somewhere doing something or another.

This time I was the one doing the staring at the breakfast before the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match, but that was stopped when those two Slytherins who called me a Mudblood, Fowles and Rykers, walked up with pained and furious expressions on their faces. Though I couldn't be scared because I was too busy trying to stop laughing. Their hairs were on ends from strained points that reminded me of porcupine quills, and they were shoeless. Not to mention that their hair was maroon and gold – Gryffindor colors.

"What did you do to us?" The one with blond hair practically screeched while her friend stood behind her. I recognized her as Artemis Fowles, the one who called me _that_ first. And her stupid friend was Arabella Rykers, a lanky girl with unruly brown hair. I would remember Artemis as my worst enemy and best female bully, only second to the hard faced Pansy Parkinson.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything." I said still laughing though a bit peeved that they accused me of something I didn't do. At least, I thought I didn't do it.

"Yes you did! Look at us!"Fowles continued screaming while the rest of the Hall laughed at their appearance. It got everyone's attention and even some of the Slytherins were failing at hiding their jeers.

"All I see are a couple of clowns, now all I'm trying to find is the tiny car you piled out of." This caused sniggers from the people around us which made me feel a little bit proud of myself.

"I know what you did! You snuck into our dorm and did this to our hair, and then you took our shoes!" she was shrieking by now and I'm surprised that the professors didn't do something by now.

"How? I just learned how to get to the Gryffindor tower. Besides don't the dormitories all have passwords that only each House knows? How am I supposed to know how to get into a snake pit?" This caused some more snickers from the Gryffindors until Artemis pulled her wand and practically shoved the tip into my face.

"Watch yourself you filthy, chubby Mu-"

"What is going on here?" McGonagall's sharp voice said behind us and there she was, standing there with a displeased look on her face. Thank Merlin for her innate radar for detecting trouble. Plus I was about to pummel her for almost calling me _that _name and for calling me chubby. I admit that I wasn't exactly a twig like my Mother but I wasn't fat.

"Professor, this _thing_ tied my – and Belle's – hair to our bedposts and stole our shoes."

"I think that that would be very likely if not for the fact that she was in detention with me all last night."

"B-But I know that it was her!"

"Then I suppose you have an explanation of how she happened to be in two places at once. It would be an incredible feat for a first year all the same."

While Artemis stammered for some explanation McGonagall continued "Since you do not have a substantial explanation, I will not hold Ms. Dursley wrongly accused of an act she did not commit. However, Ms. Fowles, I saw clearly that you drew your wand at a not sufficiently armed opponent without probable cause, which is why you and Ms. Rykers will stay inside for today's match and spend tonight with me, in detention. Now go." Fowles and Rykers both sent me hot glares that could've melted a glacier before huffing and going back to the Slytherin table. I pumped a small fist into the air and did a small victory dance while I saw the Weasley twins give me a thumbs up. I looked at Ginny to see if she saw but she was busy scribbling into that diary of hers. Every day that passed Ginny spent less time with people and more time with that diary. I thought that maybe I did something wrong or maybe she was just absorbed in her writing, but whenever I tried to approach her she just brushed me off like I was a nuisance. In short, I was starting to lose my friend.

The match was on a bright clear day with just enough sun to make everything clear. The clouds seemed to swarm around the pitch as well as the sky that day. Everyone was there cheering for the two teams, even Luna and Lyra were there, though Luna was standing more closely and wearing some sort of hat that looked like an ordinary pointed hat topped with a fake stuffed lion head. When I warily told her that it looked nice, she said "It's good, isn't it? I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn't time."

The stands surrounding the pitch are decorated differently for each Quidditch match at Hogwarts, and for this match. Every second stand would be decorated with the colors of one team, and every other stand with the colors of the opposing team and the spectators would sit in between these stands. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that everyone was high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were golden poles with hoops on the end. I could hear the whizzing of the brooms as players went 60 miles an hour. Quidditch was fun to look at but the prospect of actually playing it terrified me. First off I wasn't very capable with a broom and second I could hardly see the appeal of flying on a stick at 60 miles an hour while trying to avoid colliding not only with the Bludgers but the other flyers as well. The Slytherin and Gryffindor Chasers were battling for who could sink a goal into one of the hoops. One Slytherin Chaser (whose name escapes me) threw the Quaffle into the air and punched it towards one of the Gryffindor hoops, but a Chaser, Angelina Johnson, saved it by kicking it up and over the hoop and passed it to Katie Bell, another Chaser. Katie zoomed through the air avoiding the other Slytherins until one snuck up behind her and slapped the ball out of her hand and into someone else's. Angelina tried to steal it from him but he passed it over her head and to another player. Really I can't remember many Slytherin players because I really don't care about them. Anyways, Harry tried chasing after him even though he was supposed to be looking for the Snitch but lost it anyways. One of the Gryffindor Chasers almost got the Quaffle if it wasn't for another Slytherin dive bombing him, letting the other make a goal.

The Slytherins all cheered for their team while the Gryffindors booed. Over the microphone Lee Jordan's voice resounded "Another goal for Slytherin! That leaves Gryffindor ninety to thirty!" The Slytherins decided to boast and lined up in a V-formation and did a pre-victory lap around the ring. One Chaser even had the gall to try to hit Harry's head but he ducked just in time. See, the reason why Slytherins are hated is because of not only the rumors but because of what an enormous majority do to the others houses, like jeering at them or playing cruel pranks or just being plain terrible. I'm not implying that none of the other houses could be like that; I'm just saying that a large majority of Slytherins act that way.

Harry and Malfoy went high above the pitch and seemed to be looking for the Snitch. Then out of nowhere a Bludger came barreling at Harry and nearly took his head off. Wood then flew in front of Harry and shouted something before the Bludger rounded back and broke the edge of his broom, narrowly missing its rider. It flew at Harry again and when it missed it barreled back. I ignored all the other players and was slowly focused on the Bludger as it ricocheted back and forth trying to hit him. It was like watching a train crash in slow motion, you know that something is going to hit and it's going to be bad when it happens, but you just can't look away.

Hagrid watched through his Omnioculars as the rouge Bludger chased relentlessly after Harry. Putting them down he shouted gruffly "Blimey! Harry's got himself a rogue Bludger! That's been tampered with that has!"

"That bloody ball's gone bad!" I shouted as Harry dove again and the Bludger missed only to nearly kill Angelina if it wasn't for Fred who hit it away. It didn't matter because it went right back to its pursuit of Harry. I could see Ginny next to me and she looked genuinely concerned, and more surprising truly emotional for the first time in over a week. I could see Luna watching the game with fascination, and eve Lyra near the back as she watched the match closely with narrowed eyes. When she turned those eyes towards me and I glared at her, causing her to look away quickly.

Ron took out his wand which was in need of major repair. "I'll stop it."

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly pushed his hand down. "No! Even with a proper wand it's too risky. You could hit Harry."

Speaking of which Harry was so busy trying to avoid the Bludger that he accidently caused the some of the beams to collapse in one of the towers, thankfully it didn't topple over. Harry flew up and took a break from being hunted and was met by Malfoy. He then shot off, as did Malfoy, so I assumed that they had spotted the Snitch. They weaved around each other, occasionally taking hits (instigated by Malfoy) and raced around trying to get the lead on the Snitch. However the Bludger remained adamant at killing Harry and sailed around him trying to get a shot in. It was terrifying seeing that, like a knife being thrown on a man strapped to a wheel at a circus. They dove down to the underlying part of the pitch with the Bludger following them, and were only seen when they came up and Collin Creevey was almost hit while trying to get in yet another picture. Then out of nowhere Malfoy shoots up into the air and many Gryffindors cheered and laughed when he landed painfully on his butt. Ass deserved it.

Now Harry was wide open to take the Snitch, but just as it was within his reach the Bludger rounded about and hit its target: Harry's outstretched arm. He lost control of his broom temporarily as the pain overtook him but soon gained control. He searched for the Snitch once again and when he found it shot forward. He was soon faced with the problem of grabbing the Snitch whilst he had a broken arm, and improvised by using his able hand to hoist himself up from the broom and riding it like a Muggle surfboard. He was starting to wobble on it and with the Snitch in his sights he decided to take the plunge, literally, and dove forward on his broom. Everyone was on baited breath and Harry lied there immobile. When he finally lifted his hands I jumped up (with Luna and Ginny's help) to grab Hagrid's Omnioculars and I looked through them to see Harry with the Snitch in his hand.

"He's got it!" I screamed happily with a huge smile on my face. I felt so proud of my cousin that I could just burst. I heard Hermione said "Let's go." and she, Ron and Hagrid went off. I handed the Omnioculars to Luna and followed them. I heard Lee Jordan announce "Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" I heard the distinct whizzing of the Bludger and soon a sound that sounded like a small bomb going off in a confined space and broke into a run with the others behind me. We sprinted down the stairs and to the Quidditch where we found Harry once again being assaulted by that stupid Bludger. Running up just as the Bludger was about to ram itself down again Hermione whipped out her wand, pointed it at the ball and shouted "_Finite Incantatem_!"The spell was lifted causing the Bludger to explode and rain down the sandy remnants on Harry.

Once the scene was safe we rushed forward along with other spectators and the teachers. We reached him first and for once in my life I was actually concerned about someone other than myself. I remember that Dudley once started bawling about a scraped knee but I thought he was just overacting, but then I saw Harry with a broken arm using all his willpower not to cry out in pain and it hit me right in the heart. "Thank you." Harry said.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"No, I think my arm's broken." He said through clenched teeth. Just then the famously idiotic Lockhart arrived at the scene.

"Not to worry Harry, I will fix that arm of yours straightaway." Lockhart said assuredly but as soon as he did Harry got this look in his eyes that reminded of me of a time when he lost a tooth and was planning on leaving it for the tooth fairy. When Father found out he said he would take care of it, which meant him throwing the tooth into the fire. Harry was seven years old.

"No, not you." Harry said trying to back away but Lockhart wouldn't have that.

"The boy doesn't know what he's saying. Now this won't hurt a bit." Lockhart announced then gently pulled back the sleeve of Harry's Quidditch robe. Everyone looked at each other with huge doubt in their eyes. Even Hermione who had a huge crush on his looked a litter worried. Whipping out his wand and pointing it at Harry's broken arm he chanted "_Brachium immendo._" A blue light emitted from his wand for about two seconds before going away. Testing to see if it had worked Lockhart let go of Harry's arm and everyone's faces changed from apprehension to pure disgust when his arm literally flopped forward like spaghetti. A collective groan came from the surrounding crowd as Lockhart shook Harry's arm a little, causing it to spasm in a way that no human arm should.

"Ah, yes, well, that can sometimes happen." Lockhart said putting his wand away. "But, uh, that point is…" the crowd groaned again when he bent Harry's arm backwards. My mouth must've looked like a snarl of pure and unrefined disgust as I watched Harry's arm bend back unnaturally. A shudder ran up and down my spine like a cartoon cat that's been shocked by lightning. "You can no longer feel any pain, and clearly the bones are no longer broken."

"_Broken?_" Hagrid and I shouted outraged. Hagrid continued for us "There's no _bones_ left."

Lockhart let go of Harry's arm and it quite literally flopped into place. "Quite flexible though."

I couldn't stay silent this time. "Oh yes, he'll be a ballerina with that arm." I knew Lockhart was a phony but I didn't actually think he could blunder as far as totally removing someone's bones! Hagrid carried Harry in his arms and helped him to the castle along with Hermione, Ron, the Gryffindor Quidditch team and several other Gryffindors.

We got him to the Hospital Wing and Hagrid laid him down before going off the see Dumbledore about something or other. Madame Pomfrey quickly overlooked the situation and went to get some 'bone-growing juice'. Malfoy was helped in by Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson and started moaning like he was about to die when all he did was fall on his ass. While he was moaning Madame Pomfrey came back and snapped at him "Or Mr. Malfoy, stop making such a fuss. You can go. Out of my way! Out of my way!" She pushed through us and went to Harry's side and started to pour the juice from the skeleton inspired jar into a glass tube. I didn't know if that was medicine or a Potions experiment. "You should have brought him straight to me. I can mend bones in a heartbeat but growing them back…!"

"You will be able to, won't you?" Hermione asked what was on all minds. She always was more thoughtful of people than most.

"Oh, I'll be able to, certainly. But it'll be _painful_. You're in for a rough night Potter. Re-growing bones is a nasty business." Madame Pomfrey said putting the tube into his hands and Harry drank it only to spit it out instantaneously. I wiped some spit that landed on my forehead and glared at him while he smiled apologetically. Madame Pomfrey chastised "Well, what did you expect? Pumpkin juice?"

**Wow! Two updates in one day! I am on a roll! **

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	11. Friendships Made & Broken Over A Stupid

**Pics of Lyra on profile. Also I'm thinking of making a collage and website for this fanfic so keep an eye out.**

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Friendships Made & Broken Over A Stupid Diary**

Soon everyone left except me because I wanted 1) I didn't want to have to go to class and 2) (and more importantly) I wanted to make sure he was okay. Madame Pomfrey tried to get me to get out but I put my foot down and surprisingly (to everyone) she let me. I almost always got what I wanted, from my parents, from my classmates, and even from Dudley. But so far I didn't actually think that I'd get past such a supposedly tough staff member like Madame Pomfrey. I figured that it was my non-magical talent.

Sitting down on a chair by Harry's bed on his good arm's side I said "You know, besides you getting your arm broken, and then having the bones disappear by a dumb teacher, you were kind of…sort of…I mean, um…"

"Spit it out, Did." Harry said almost snappily.

I pursed my lips and it felt like I was forcing the words out of my throat. "I think that…you wereprettywicked." I said in one breath while looking away. I rarely gave compliments to anyone in those days. And giving one to my cousin was definitely a huge step forward.

Harry seemed to find it pretty amusing. Git. "I'm sorry Did. This broken arm seems to have impaired my hearing." My glare made him create an impish smile I wished to smack off his face. "Could you say that again, please?"

"I said…"I forced out. "…that you were…pretty…wicked." I said that very last word like a whisper but the smug smile on Harry's face showed that he had heard.

"Well, well, well, it seems like _Dahlia Dursley _is capable of complimenting someone." Harry said arrogantly with his free arm folding over his broken one.

Scowling I growled "Don't get used to it, Harry."

Harry seemed surprised for a moment before a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "I see."

"What?"

"You called me 'Harry'."

"So? Isn't that your name?"

"You're calling me 'Harry' more than 'Potter' now. I don't think you've called me Potter once since we got here." Now that I think about it, I did call him Potter a lot, and although 'Harry' was coming on the rise, Potter seemed flitted here and there.

"Oh. I guess I am." I said and after a few moments I stood up from my seat only to sit on his bed. "Harry, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do Hermione's parents know how to send her letters from the Muggle world to Hogwarts?"

"Um, yeah. A lot of Muggleborn kid's parents can."

"…Do you think that my parents know how to send me a letter?" I said quietly, unable to control the quiver in my voice. The question plagued my mind for weeks. Every time the mail came via owl, I always hoped that I would see some owl coming towards me with a happy letter from both Mother and Father, asking me how I was and telling me about their day. And even in my later years at Hogwarts, long after I had given up on them, I would catch myself glancing up hopefully at the messenger owls thinking for a second that a letter would be dropped down into my later. But it never came. It never would.

Harry's face turned from smug to confused to sad in less than a minute. I suppose he was the only one who understood what it felt like to be abandoned. The only difference between us was that his parents didn't leave on purpose. He sat up and next to me, tentatively putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a side hug. My lip quivered and my throat clenched as my eyes stung with tears. I may not be a crier, but that doesn't me I was invincible to hurt. Harry was never good with words, and I never overestimated my ability with them either, but with that simple gesture I just knew. Getting a letter from my parents was just as likely as Harry getting a letter from his.

I don't remember falling asleep. Frankly I don't remember much other than stopping from crying and Harry rubbing my arm and back, because that was the kindest gesture I got from anyone since I got on the Hogwarts Express and Mrs. Weasley gave me a big hug, and for a moment I imagined she was my mother. I do remember being woken up by the sounds of what seemed like fighting, but chose to ignore it because I was sleeping so well. I did wake up when I heard a familiar voice say "Dobby is used to death threats. Dobby gets them five times a day at home." Dobby?

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're trying to kill me." Harry's voice asked. By this time I was already wide awake but pretended I was still asleep.

"Not kill you, sir. Never kill you. Dobby remembers how it was before Harry Potter triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We House Elves were treated like vermin, sir. Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin." I then heard some pretty depressing sobs echo throughout the room and finally I had to get up.

"Dobby, stop crying, please." I said sitting up, and both males were surprised to see me awake.

"When did you get up?" Harry asked me, and I noticed that he must've changed into his pajamas while I was sleeping.

"'Bout five minutes ago. I heard Dobby say that he was used to death threats so I listened in."

"You were eavesdropping?" Harry asked accusingly so I crossed my arms over my chest defensively.

"'Eavesdropping' is such an ugly word. I prefer to call it, listening in to an interesting conversation."

Harry merely raised an eyebrow and said "So you were eavesdropping."

With a big smile I said "Precisely. See Dobby, you can teach an old dog new tricks." When Harry narrowed his eyes I me I replied "What? This being nice to you thing is something to get used to, even if I've had three years practice."

"Since when did you start?"

"Oh hush." Then I plucked a tissue box from a table over and handed a tissue to Dobby. "Here you go. Your nose is kind of runny."

"Young Miss offers me a tissue? Young Miss has done a kind act but I cannot remember Young Miss's name. Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" As you can imagine Dobby then started hitting his head on the bedside table edge before Harry and I had to forcefully pull him away, in which he promtpy took the tissue that had fallen to the ground during the struggle and blew his nose rather loudly. When it was used up he then blew his nose on that tea rag was still wearing.

Harry asked "Dobby, why do you wear that thing?"

After finishing, Dobby fisted the front of the rag and asked Harry "This sir? 'Tis the mark of the House Elves enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes." Suddenly there was a loud sound that reminisced like a large footstep, causing Dobby and I to gasp. We all turned to the door and Dobby hopped up on Harry's hospital bed. "Listen. Listen!" Pleaded Dobby to Harry and me, so we leaned forward to listen to his trembling, whispering voice. "Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts. Harry Potter must not stay here, not the history is about to repeat itself. And Young Miss-"

"Dahlia Dursley, but you can call me Did or DD." I supplied, hoping he wouldn't hit himself again.

"Miss Dursley must leave also, for this history will not be kind to her." Dobby warned me, his big eyes glistening with tears threatening to spill over the surface. _What did he mean by history not being kind to me?_, I wondered.

Harry shot me a worried look before asking Dobby "Repeat itself? You mean this has happened before?"

Dobby gasped and covered his mouth with his bandaged hands that I had only just noticed. "I shouldn't have said that. Oh! Ah! Ah!" Dobby looked around frantically before his eyes settled on the 'Bone-Grow' bottle and I saw that same look in his eyes right before he hit his head on the table. I made a grab for it but he was faster, latching his hand over the neck than bashing his own head in. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Stop it, Dobby! Stop it!" Harry whispered furiously, trying to control his own anger whilst hoping that no one came in. I held back Dobby while Harry grabbed the bottle with his intact arm. Settign it down roughly on a bearby table, Harry grabbed the front of Dobby's 'clothes' and whispered "Tell me, Dobby. When did this happen before? Who's doing it now?"

"Harry-" I tried to warn him, not liking how he was seemingly abusing Dobby. I didn't know the little House Elf but I figured he had gotten enough beatings for a lifetime.

Whispering back, Dobby said "Dobby cannot say, sir. Dobby only wants to keep Harry Potter and Dahlia Dursley safe."

"No Dobby. Tell me. Who is it?" Harry persisted but at the eound of more footsteps Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared like a puff of smoke. Harry twisted his hand and that's when he spotted shadows approaching. "Quick, get back in bed."

"What?"

"Do it!" Hearing the ever closing footsteps, I got back to lying next to Harry and focusing on making my breathing as shallow as possible and trying to keep still. Mere seconds later people came in and we heard Madame Pomfrey tell say "Put him here. What happened?"

"There's been another attack." Dumbledore said. _Dumbledore?_, I thought. _Why would the Headmaster be here?_

"I think – do you know I think that he's been petrified, Madame Pomfrey." McGonagall inquired. _McGonagall too? This has to be serious if both McGonagall __**and **__Dumbledore are sounding so worried, even if Dumbledore didn't show it. _"Look, perhaps he managed to take a picture of his attacker. There was a sound that could only be combustion before McGonagall asked "What could this mean Albus?"

"It means that our students are in grave danger." Dumbledore replied gravely.

"What should I tell the staff?" McGonagall asked.

"The truth." He replied. "Tell them Hogwarts is no longer safe. It is as we feared Minerva – the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again." Later when they left, Harry and I crept over to the bed and I reeled back when I saw that it was Colin who was on that bed, his eyes firmly shut with his arms up, probably from having been taking a picture during his attack. On the bedside table was his camera whose film was completely obliterated. Colin was a little annoying at the best of times, but he never meant any harm. Who could've done something like this? Frankly, I should've asked myself not who, but what.

.

.

.

There's an old saying that when something is a complete secret at Hogwarts, naturally, the entire school knows. So it didn't come as much of a shock that by the time breakfast started all anyone could talk about was how Colin was in the hospital wing but the reasons for him being there varied. Some said that he was petrified (which was the truth), others said that a group of Slytherins beat him up for taking too many pictures, and others said that perhaps Peeves played an incredibly nasty prank. All I could hear was everyone talking about Colin's stay at the Hospital Wing. Well, almost everyone…

"Ginny, put the book down and eat already. You haven't even touched your pancakes." I said staring intently at Ginny who continued to scribble away in the stupid black diary. Ever since the beginning of the year all I could see Ginny doing was writing away like her life depended on it. If I tried to look at what she was writing she would either scoot away or tell me to stop looking over her shoulder. We were both frustrating each other and it wasn't getting any better.

Ginny didn't respond. As usual she just ignored me and the food and continued to write. I huffed and rested my head on my hand. "Ginny, you have got to eat. You rarely eat nowadays and judging by the shadows around your eyes you're not sleeping either."

"Just shut up." Ginny mumbled it but I heard it clearly. So naturally, I called her out on it.

"What did you just say?" I said a bit too loudly but I didn't care at the moment. My defenses started to grow.

"I said 'just shut up'. You are always in my ear about things that aren't your business." Ginny barked finally tearing her eyes away from the book and staring at me with a dark look in eyes that should not have belonged to a girl her age.

"Well at least I'm not acting totally antisocialle by scribbling away in a diary day and night. All you ever dod is write in that bloody thing and when someone tries to get you away from it you try to tear their head off."

"Look, _Dahlia_, maybe this is a hard concept for your brain to grasp but maybe I don't want to spend every second with you."

"Well, _Ginerva_, maybe I wouldn't be trying to get into your business if you had talked to me with more than a 'hello' or 'goodbye' outside of classes. Also, _maybe_ I wouldn't continue if you weren't always acting so odd."

"You think I'm odd? This coming from the girl who tucks her wand in her shoe."

My face flamed with embarrassment and rage as I heard some sniggers from some other kids. Hey, I feel more comfortable with my wand there because for me it's easier access. Standing up I snapped "Fine, so I keep my wand in my sock for easy access. At least I don't keep secrets from my friend or snap at her when she's just asking a simple question."

Not wanting to be outdone, Ginny stood up also with the diary clenched firmly in her hand "Well, if you don't like being my friend, then maybe we should just stop."

"Stop whaat?" I asked dreading the question thoghut trying not to show it.

"Stop being friends, you twit."By now several people at our table were staring at us but I refused to look at anyone.

"Well maybe we should." I said loudly.

"Okay then." Ginny said walking away.

"Fine with me." I said loudly walking out of the Great Hall also, though not wanting to be anywhere around Ginny.

"Fine!" Ginny said more ferociously and when we reached the doors we turned and screamed at each other "Fine!" Spinning on our heels we walked in the opposite and didn't look back.

Later I was sitting in a hidden alcove in one of the abandoned halls on the seventh floor. How I got there? Well with me, when my temper flares it takes a long time to calm me down, depending on how bad the fight was. And losing my closest friend by far over a stupid dairy was pretty bad. I had to walk all the way up to the seventh floor before the anger subsided, only to be replaced with an even more awful feeling: loneliness. Ginny was really the only person who would spend time with me, and now that she was gone I had no one. Well there was always Harry and Hermione but they had other friends. I sat down on the alcove and sniffled, trying to keep the tears at bay. Tears were a weakness in my family; it meant that you were weak. I wanted to bottle up those bad feelings that came and just throw it into the sea for someone else to bother with.

I was interrupted from my pity party when I heard a familiar sound. The meowing of a cat made me lift up my head and sniffle deeper. Rubbing herself against my legs was Sable, eyes closed to vision but in her own way seeing the world. She then placed her paws on my knees and looked at me, or at least as close as she could get. Understanding the meaning I put my hands under her armpits and lifted her into my lap where she immediately curled up and purred while I stroked her smooth black hair. One thing that I always loved about Sable was that no matter what mood I was in she always had her own silent way of cheering me up. I was always happier when she was around.

"It's nice to have a friend, isn't it?" A girl's voice suddenly said, this time causing my head to snap up and trying to control my disdain. Standing there in all her creepy glory was Lyra Macnair, staring at me as usual. Over the months she had continued to creep around me when she thought I wasn't looking. However, I suppose she wasn't as suspicious as she was before. After we had gotten back from the Quidditch match and I went to lunch with the others after visiting Harry, Fowles and Rykers were approaching, probably planning some way to get back at me for supposedly messing up their hair and getting them punished. And just as they were in hearing range they stopped when they spotted someone over my shoulder and quickly ran off. When I turned I saw just a glimpse of brown hair disappearing around a corner, so I just shrugged it off and moved on.

"How did you find me?" I asked suspiciously. Lyra was still my prime suspect for all the strange happenings at Hogwarts at that point.

"Your cat." When she saw my questioning look, she continued almost shyly "The cat found me as I was heading to class and wouldn't leave me alone. It-"

"She. Her name is Sable." I said defensively.

"Right. _Sable _kept on nudging me in the leg and wouldn't leave me alone until I finally caved in and followed her here."

"Well you came and you saw, so could you please leave?" I said hplding Sable to keep my emotions in check. The problem is that in times of high stress when one emotion comes out they all do, and right now the anger and suspicion were creeping back up.

"I came to see if you were okay." Lyra's statement shocked me a bit.

Looking at her I asked "Why?"

Hesitantly, she came over and sat next to me. "Because I saw the fight that you had with Weasley, and I wanted to know what it was about."

"Why would you care?"

"Is it so hard to believe that one dorm mate can't be concerned about another dorm mate when they had a fight with their friend just because they're worried? Well, when you're roommates with Rose Brown you can never be sure."

I laughed at that and for the first time since I met her Lyra Macnair actually smiled. My own smile came to my face before disappearing again into a frown. "Ex-friend actually. Ginny and I broke up. I mean I was only trying to help her but she was just so wrapped up in that diary of hers so I lost my temper, as usual. Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean."

"I don't think you were mean." Lyra said consolingly. "I think that you were just trying ot help your friend but your didn't know how, and instead of being grateful of having such a good friend Weasley sanpped back at you." If I didn't know any better I woud;ve thought that Lyura was sucking up to me, but then I thought about why she would want to, so I accepted it by nodding and wpining away snot from my chin and a fallen tear. "Listen, give Weasley some space for a while. She'll come around."

"Maybe…" I said unsure.

Scooting closer to me, Lyra said "And…in the mean time…maybe…we could be friends."

Looking into her brown eyes I saw that she was sincere but also incredibly nervous. I could tell by the way her eyes were flicker in the tiniest movements and her hands were clenching at her skirt. "Us? Friends?"

Almost desperately Lyra added "Just for a little bit, until Weasley comes back to her senses. We could be friends even after…if you want that is."

I didn't really need to think about it. Although Lyra was still a suspicious one, I figured that having a strange friend was better than no friend at all. Also like the saying goes: 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' I held out my hand and said "Deal."

Lyra smile seemed to have gotten a little wider as she took my hand it shook it. I almost saw the slight blush on her cheeks when our hands touched, but I ignored it thinking it a trick of the light. "Deal."

**Once again sorry for the long wait but it was only 9 reviews the last time I checked, or maybe not…anyways I came, I wrote, and I updated. So you read, you click, and you review.**

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	12. The Finer Points of Dueling Club

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**The Finer Points of Dueling Club**

Perhaps the only thing that Gilderoy Lockhart was good for was starting up the Hogwarts Dueling Club. Dumbledore agreed only because of the recent events, aka Colin's attack and the Chamber of Secrets being opened. The years were divided up as such: 1-3, 4-5, and 6-7. It was held in one of the previously abandoned classrooms that were found all over the castle, and for convenience was quite large so as to hold a large number of students at one time, such as a week after Colin was attacked and the first and seconds years were together on the first lesson. The previously unused desks were pushed off to the side to make room for a large aisle that would be used for the main 'performance' dueling. The large aisle was decorated with the phases of the moon all over with stars here and there.

I stood next to Lyra who was engrossed into telling me another 'secret adventure' of her brother's, which was to her knowledge made up things he had created to get her to sleep at night. Lyra's brother, Marius, had graduated from Hogwarts as a Slytherin before Lyra even came to the school, and worked in the Ministry until he died in his sleep. She didn't mention much else, particularly his death, and she was never a chatty person, but the one thing she would always be ready to talk about were the stories he would tell her. I think that was her way of connecting to him without all the bad feelings of his death getting in the way.

Lyra and I had become closer, if you could say that, and it unsettled some people. Like I said before, people were starting to worry that someone inside the school opened the Chamber of Secrets and automatically they believed that it was a pureblood. The Slytherins had been avoided like the plague and that meant Lyra too, even though she already did her best to avoid people. When Lyra and I were going to the Great Hall for dinner one night Harry and Ron pulled me aside and blatantly told me that Lyra was trouble, even though they barely knew her. I know I said I only became her friend to keep an eye on her, which was partly true, but she actually turned out to be an interesting girl who didn't ask a lot of questions about my family, and I was fine with that because I could tell she was the same; there were just some things about our family's we didn't wish to broadcast to the world. Harry and Ron were worried that since she was a pureblood whose parents were suspected Death that having a Muggleborn friend was incredibly odd. So, naturally, I told them that I could take care of myself.

Lyra was interrupted from telling me about a story when Lockhart, dressed in plum robes and curly blond hair, announced "Gather 'round. Gather 'round!" All the students clustered together to either side of the aisle laughing. Whilst trying to get a good spot I saw Ginny looking at me, and for a second I thought I saw a look in her eyes…betrayal...?...hurt? I couldn't find out because Lyra soon grabbed my arm and pulled me out of sight. I didn't see that smug look on her face that she passed to Ginny.

"Can everyone see me?" Lockhart asked. "Can you all hear me? Excellent. In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions– for full details, see my published works." Lockhart bragged and Lyra and I simultaneously let out a quiet noise of outrage.

"Does he ever _not _advertise himself like a bloody stamp?" I grumbled.

"Apparently not." Lyra murmured back. Luckily Lyra also escaped 'the Lockhart Craze' and saw him for what he was: an egotistical prat.

Said egotistical prat then took off some cape and threw it to a group of upper-class girls who made a mad grab for it like it was a wedding bouquet.

"Let me introduce my assistant – Professor Snape," Lockhart continued and I laughed at the image of Snape in a red sequined dress, posing as Lockhart attempted to saw some poor student in half, like a Muggle magician. I told this to Lyra and she shuddered, clearly disturbed. "He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now, I don't want any of you to worry – you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

Looking as miserable as ever Snape turned to face Lockhart, who did the same somehow managing to look remarkably dashing at the same time, although I am ashamed to admit it, and they bowed to each other, though while Snape's looked more like an involuntary spasm, Lockhart's was a deep, graceful bow.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart informed us and I noticed how he held his wand as though it were a sword, "on the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill of course."

"Yeah, let's see how well that works out." Lyra muttered causing me to snigger. Across from us Draco Malfoy turned and gave an almighty smirk until Lyra turned on him with a galre that made him sneer and look away. Although I did my best not to associate with Malfoy, I knew enough from other people and his behavior in general that he would not back down from a challenge as long as the person was percievbly weak against him, such as a fisrt year like Lyra. So what did she have that made him look away?

"On the count of three…one… two…three-" Lockhart cried and everyone was silent to see what would happen next.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape yelled instantly and before the pretty blond could even open his mouth to cast his own spell a brilliant jet of red light and power erupted from Snape's wand and crashed into Lockhart, sending him flying backwards and slamming him into the wall. I let out an 'ooo' of surprising sympathy pain and cringed as he slid down the wall and landed on the floor.

Across at the other side of the platform a large gang of Slytherins cheered and clapped loudly at Lockhart's pain and even Lyra laughed at him. I can't believe I'm saying this but between the two of us I was the more 'forgiving' one.

"Well, there you have it!" Lockhart said grandly getting back up, "That was the Disarming Charm – as you see, I've lost my wand – ah, thank you Miss Brown." He said as he accepted his wand as Lavender, Rose's older sister, franticly offered it. "Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…" there was no denying that Snape looked livid at this, and Lockhart must have noticed as he quickly switched tracks, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you and put you all in pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me…"

Everyone immediately paired up and I saw Snape split Harry, Ron and Hermione up with Malfoy and two other Slytherins I didn't know. I paired up with Lyra and out of the corner of my eye I spotted Ginny grudgingly pair up with Rose, neither of which looked happy with the turn out.

"Did." Lyra's voice brought me out of my reverie and my attention away from Ginny. "Pay attention to what Lockhart's saying." That was odd. Just a few minutes ago Lyra was practically calling the man an idiot (which he kind of was) and now she wants me to pay attention. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Macnair, Dursley." Snape's drooling voice appeared next to us. He looked down on us with a clear smirk before saying "I think it would be beneficial to _expand_ your academic options outside of your friends."

"Actually Professor we're quite-"

"Silence Dursley. You shall pair up with…Fowles! Rykers! Come here." I suppressed I groan when I saw those two coming our way with sneers on their faces. "Dursley, you'll be pairted with Fowles. Macnair, with Rykers." With that less than subtle command Snape billowed away and left us to our detested partners.

Needless to say that the first Dueling Club session of the year…ended quite horribly, and with what I experienced that was saying something. First off Snape paired up Harry and Malfoy so you know that it's not going to end well. Malfoy cast a sneaky spell which Harry backfired and soon enough the entire hall was in chaos.

"_Avis_!" Rykers shouted at Lyra and immediately black birds came out from the wand tip. Their wings were flapping angrily and if not for all of the other chaos I would've distinctly heard murderous crows.

"_Impedimenta_!" Lyra shouted back while I shouted "_Rictusempra_!" at Rykers. Lyra and I had teamed up against Fowles and Rykers and the four of us were locked in a bitter battle, not unlike some of the other fights around us. Rykers was hit and dropped to the floor clutching her sides and laughing hysterically like the funniest joke had been heard, but you could still see the anger on her hard face. Seeing that she was now outnumbered Fowles put an even bigger effort into her assault and although I loathe to say it she was pretty good.

"_Pertrificus Totalus_!" Fowles shouted and I was sent to the floor completely immobile. I couldn't move and was by all means completely helpless. It felt like there were chains holding not only my arms but my legs, feet and even toes together.

"_Furnunculus!_" Lyra shouted and I heard Fowles shout angrily before Lyra continued "_Relashio!_" I was instantly relieved of those invisible bonds and got up with my wand in hand. I almost laughed when I saw Fowles face absolutely covered with boils that were popping with disgusting puss coming out.

We continued casting spells back and forth, one of which ended up turning Lyra's hair green and Fowles hair the same color it was the morning of the match – maroon and gold – and for a time it felt like it would never end. Then, out of nowhere, Neville comes crashing down behind me and I lose my focus in order to stand up straight. Fowles used that to her advantage and shouted "_Conjunctivitis!_" Then I felt unimaginable pain in my eyes and I cried out in pain. It felt like the time Dudley used a spoon to fling hot soup in my face and it didn't stop burning for an hour. This was worse because when I tried to open my eyes I couldn't see at all. I thought I had gone blind, which was pretty accurate, and I stumbled over Neville and fell to the ground.

"_FLIPENDO!" _Someone shouted in a raging voice so clear that I couldn't tell who it was. The next thing I heard was a very girlish scream and Snape shouting "_Finite Incantatem!_" And just like that the chaos stopped. All the spells were nullified and everything was left to ruin.

"Whoa, Did, are you alright?" Neville asked from my left…I think?

"Of course not, you blundering idiot!" Lyra snapped at him at a high octave of a voice. "If you hadn't tripped her then Fowles wouldn't have been able to hit her!"

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't know!" Neville pleaded to me but I was too busy rubbing my eyes for the invisible dirt clogging my sight.

"Did, what's happening to you?" Lyra said, her hand covering mine in an intimate gesture that shouldn't have been that familiar with 2 week old friends.

"I can't see a thing." I said and before anyone could say anything else we heard a large clamor of feet and suddenly Malfoy shouted "_Serpensortia!_" There was a terrible hissing noise that made my skin crawl, and when the sound of scales against a solid surface echoed in my ears I knew that somehow Malfoy had summoned a snake. Lyra and Neville (I guessed) helped me up then held me back with them and the hissing grew worse.

"Don't move, Potter." Snape drooled. "I'll get rid of it."

"Allow me, Professor Snape." Lockhart butted in before shouting "_Alarte Ascendare_." There was a strange binging kind of noise and the sound of something being shot into the end before it thudding back down. The hissing then became angrier.

"What just happened?" I asked still not being able to see, and wondering why no one had taken me to the Hospital Wing yet.

"Lockhart just made the snake angrier." Lyra supplied before people started gasping and one person said "Don't move Justin." And that's when someone started talking a foreign language I couldn't even begin to guess where it came from. It took a few seconds for me to realize that it was Harry speaking in the same way he talked to the Boa at the zoo the year before. Everything was deathly quiet except for Harry's talk and the snake hissing.

"_Vipera Evenesca._" Even Snape sounded shocked while he cast the spell and the next thing I knew the hissing stopped to be replaced with the sound of sizzling flesh and the smell of smoke. Like clockwork people started chattering, saying things like 'Did Potter really do that?' or 'What was he saying?'

"What are you playing at?" A random kid asked angrily and then the chatter became louder until I heard Ron and Hermione get Harry off the stage (at least from what I heard) and running the hell out of there.

"I am so sorry."

"Neville-"

"I swear I didn't mean it!"

"Nevile-

"Really I am so-"

"Nevillle!" I had gotten tired of Neville's constant apologies when he really didn't do anything, though according to Lyra she acted like he was the one who cast the spell. "My left eye's got vision and Madame Pomfrey said I'll be out of here in an hour, so just stop apologizing already.

"Sor-" When I shot my eye at him he stopped and put his hand in the pocket of his pants. He then held out hand-sized clear, glass ball in his hand. "I want to make it up to you, so you can borrow this for a while."

"What is it?" I asked taking the ball into my hand, feelign the warm it msut have absorbed from being in Neville's pocket for so long.

"It's a Remembrall. My Gran gave it to me last year." Neville responded.

"What does it do?" I asked shaking it up and down to see if it was like a snow globe that would suddenly let loose fake snow. Instead it suddenly filled with red smoke that pushed on the glass on the ball.

"Well it becomes red when you hold it and you forgot something."

"Oh, well now that I know I've forgotten something, how am I supposed to figure out what it is?"

"…Oh, well I don't really know…sorry, it was stupid…"

"Again with the 'sorries'." I huffed. "Neville, thanks for it." I then began passing it between my hands out of boredom before Neville freaked out and grabbed it mid flight, us fumbling with it as it slipped out of his grasp before it landed in my lap again.

"Be carefully!" He wheezed out. "Seamus told me that if the owner breaks it then you'll be cursed for all eternity."

"But _you're_ the owner, so wouldn't you be cursed?"

"Oh, right!" Neville smacked his hand on his forehead.

"Is it actually true? Because it sounds to me like how Muggles say that you'll have seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror, and let me tell you I've broken a lot of mirrors and nothing bad has ever happened to me."

Neville pondered this for a minute before saying "Well, Hermione did say that that superstition _was _a load of rubbish."

"See? Even if this thing smashes into a million pieces – which it won't 'cause I'll be very careful – nothing bad is gonna happen to you or me. Okay?"

Neville gave a shy smile and said "Okay."

So that's how I had my first conversation with Neville, even if it started because of Fowles. And remember when I told him 'nothing bad is gonna happen to you or me'? Well that was first step in learning a little thing I like to call irony.

**Can anyone guess what Did was talking about? Anyone? Hmm…**

**Well the reason I'm updating so quickly is becusae I got ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN REVIEWS! WHOO-HOO! Thanks for all of you for the support and a special congratulations to FleurSuoh for being #100! **

**Bye!**


	13. Mixed Perceptions

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Mixed Perceptions**

I may have told Neville a bit of a fib. The truth was that Madame Pomfrey said that it would take a full night, if not more, to make my eyes heal completely. I only said that because it made Neville stop kicking himself and curfew would end before he could see to it himself. I was sad because my only company ever since I was taken to the Hospital Wing was Neville. Lyra had run off somewhere and according to Neville Harry hadn't been seen since the incident at the Dueling Club, along with Hermione and Ron. I don't know what it all meant at the time but a wayward cousin was the least of my worries.

I got tired of course and soon my good eye closed under the bandages (because Madame Pomfrey didn't want to take any chances and put them over my eyes to make sure they weren't somehow infected) and snuggled under the covers hoping for sleep. And it came. For about five seconds. The lights had just turned off when they were turned back on and the sounds of whining echoed through the room.

"Madame Pomfrey it hurts! It hurts really bad!" Fowles whines floated over to my bed which made me wonder what was going on.

"Miss Fowles, I know you're in pain but please try to keep your voice down. There are other students sleeping." Madame Pomfrey grinded out and the sounds of wrestling came to my ears until Madame Pomfrey finally said "Now drink this up, it'll help fix that bone by tomorrow morning." One second later there was the sound of spitting and a groan of disgust. "Well what did you expect, Pumpkin Juice."

"It's disgusting." Fowles griped. "Why can't you just fix this up quickly?"

"Because Miss Fowles you waited too long to seek treatment for that arm of yours. And while I can fix it up quickly there's a chance infection could've spread." Madame Pomfrey chided. "Now I've already sent for your night clothes so you best start getting ready."

"Alright Madame Pomfrey. If that's what you think is best then I'll obey. And besides, it was Macnair's fault anyways." Wait a minute. Fowles sounded too sweet and _definitely_ too obedient. Fowles was a total and complete bully with any of the students, younger or older, and often sought into humiliating that in the most painful ways. But in front of the teachers she was like a saint, always obedient and painfully polite, though I think that McGonagall was onto her, and maybe even Snape.

Madame Pomfrey left soon after that and the lights went off again. I stayed awake because there was a feeling in my gut that told me to stay awake. Something was going to happen and I wanted to be awake for it. It took about ten minutes for there to be the tiniest creaking from the Hospital Wing and the small sound of footsteps tapping over the stone floor. Soon enough Fowles sharply snapped "What took you so long?"

"Sorry Artemis." Rykers said timidly. I saw from previous encounters that Rykers always followed anything Fowles did, and usually not out of mutual cruelty, but some of it was fear from Rykers part. "I needed to make sure that Filch didn't follow me."

"Did you retrieve the items I told you to bring from my room?" Fowles said calmly and I heard something clink.

"Yep, everything's here." Rykers said handing something to Fowles and there was the small sound of sizzling and the muffled clinking of glass. "If you don't mind me asking, why are we using this on Dursley?"

"Because the Mudblood humiliated me and I think that it's a great way to get back at Macnair."

"Why Macnair?"

"Oh, come now Belle. Don't tell me you didn't see how Macnair is so attached to it. She probably never had a friend before so that's why she's resorted to having a pet."

"Not unlike you, Fowles." Lyra's voice shocked all of us and I nearly jumped out of my bed. I desperately wanted to rip the bandages from my eyes to see what was happening but Madame Pomfrey had cast a spell on them so that I wouldn't be able to take them off until the prescribed time. Curse Medical Wizards for their intuition of twitchy patients.

"W-Where did you come from?" Rykers tried to sound brave but she sounded shaken, and to be honest so was I. With Rykers she was as stealthy as she could be and barely made any noise but still was a little noticeable. But with Lyra there was neither indication nor warning of any of her presence before she made it known.

"You don't need to know." Lyra said coldly and I heard someone move but no tapping, which meant that she must have being wearing her pajamas, which as strange since I figured that someone would notice a first year running around the castle in her nightties. "I suggest that you should put that vial down Fowles."

"Or what Macnair?" Fowles shot back snootily. "Maybe I should tell your daddy about your choice of friends. I don't think that he'd be very happy about that."

"No, he wouldn't. But it's not my daddy that you should be worried about. I wonder how your parents would take the news that you, Rykers, were the one who fumbled with that present to the Minister and broke it."

"How-"

"Or how you, Fowles, were the one to make your older sister fall and break her ankle, just in time for her birthday."

It was completely silent until Fowles said as calmly as possible "Listen Macnair, I knew that you had sunk to the dogs level but I think that delusion-"

"Is something that you would like to blame this on?" Lyra said and I could practically see the evil smirk on her face. "You said, and I quote, 'Belle, Apolla always gets Mother's approval and she never does anything.' and then Rykers asked 'What are you going to do?'. And that's when your evil little mind came up with a nasty idea and you replied 'I think it's time for Apolla to receive a humility check.' It seems to me that if your parents were to find out, then you'd be in the doghouse with me."

Fowles breathed in a deep, controlled, breath before saying almost coldly "It really isn't in my nature nor pleasure to accept any sort of surrender, so maybe we can come to some sort of transaction."

"You're a very articulate loser, but I'll agree to that." Lyra replied and I heard a small growl from Fowles. "You don't say anything to my dad or anyone of his 'friends', and I won't mention anything to your parents. But be warned, if my dad finds out from even the most remote source, or if anything happens to Did that I even remotely think involves either one of you, I will do everything in my power to make sure that your life will become so miserable you'll beg for it to be ended." At this point I was very scared. I had never heard Lyra speak this way to anyone, at least not in front of me. It was so dark and deadly I thought that it could kill someone.

Fowles chuckled lowly before the creaking of the bed was heard, so she must've laid on it. "Rykers, you may go. And make sure not to get yourself caught." I heard the quiet tapping of feet before Fowles said again "You know, I do wonder why the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. In another life you would've made an excellent Slytherin."

"And you a good witch." Lyra said before walking over to my bed. The curtains were drawn before I went to bed previously so I had time to adjust myself back into a lying position on my side and slowed my breathing like before. I heard the curtains open quietly before closing again, and then I felt a weight next to me so I knew it was Lyra. Now if she had just done that I only would've been a little freaked, but then she positioned herself so that she was right behind me and then smoothed my hair, almost lovingly.

Lyra then said something that made my heart break a little. "You know, I don't know if you're awake or not, but I want to say thank you. I know you thought I was weird in the beginning, but you still became my friend. You're the first person who's ever done that since my brother died. You're a lot like him. Stubborn, blunt, not afraid to show people you're angry, but also very kind. Marius always said that if you talk to someone when they're asleep, they can still listen. He also told me to be my real self, and try to avoid becoming like Dad, but I guess I'm failing at that. I know what it's like to feel alone, even with your own family, I really do. That's why I want to say, whether you're listening or not, that I hope that once this is all over we can still be friends." As much as I didn't want to, I fell asleep right then and there, feeling Lyra continuing to smooth my hair while humming a melody.

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'Parseltongue: the language of serpents and those who can converse with them. An individual who can speak Parseltongue is known as a Parselmouth. It is a very uncommon skill, and is more common to be hereditary.' What the books don't tell you is how any who's gift comes to life will become isolated and abandoned by others, sometimes even by their own friends. Everywhere he went Harry got stared from anyone who knew he was a Parselmouth, which as I said before about what happens with a secret in the school, was known by everyone. That's why he didn't come to visit me in the Hospital Wing, because he was too busy trying to sort out the possibility that he could be the great-great-great or whatever grandson of Salazar Slytherin, the wizard who put us in this mess in the first place. One day he just disappeared after classes were done and no one saw him at dinner, so I went with Sable to find him. And it took about an hour before I spotted him with Hedwig sitting by himself on a cliff that overlooked the school across the Black Lake. I'm surprised I found him at all.

The path that led to the cliff came behind Harry so he didn't see me. He then asked "Who am I, Hedwig? What am I?"

"You'd think that living with my dad yelling 'Harry Potter' would give you a hint." I tried to make a joke out of it because the tension was unnerving me a bit.

"Did? What are you doing here?" Harry asked as I sat down next to him, pulling Sable into my lap as animal instinct probably told her and Hedwig to be wary of each other.

"Looking for you, that's what. Everyone got pretty worried when you didn't show up for dinner."

"Really? And everyone meaning who?" Harry snapped sarcastically.

"Well me for one since now…ac-choo!...I've probably got a cold from looking for you. Then there's Ron and Hermione, even Lyra noticed something was off."

"Well, I pretty sure everyone else would've been glad if I didn't come back."

"Who cares about them?" I snapped at him. "Harry, you're not the type of person to pity yourself so stop. Those people aren't your friends. Your real friends – Ron, Hermione and me – spent half of dinner looking for you, and we didn't mind."

"But everyone thinks that I'm the 'Heir of Slytherin' now. No one wants to come near me. An hour ago Ernie Macmillan warned Hermione to stay away from me if she knew what was good for her."

"Well then Ernie Macmillan is an idiot. Hermione knows that you would never hurt her and so do I."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you defending me?"

"Because, until someone proves otherwise, you are my cousin." I said and I mean what I say. "You helped me with my parents so it's only fair that I do the same." I then put my arm around his shoulders and gave him a halfway hug. This intimacy thing was getting a little easier for the both of us. "We're family. We have to stick together."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry smile. It was small but it conveyed enough of his happiness for me to dub it a mission accomplished. Harry always helped me whenever I had trouble with my parents, and it was only fair that I do the same. I love Harry like a brother, maybe more than my own brother, and I'd do anything to help him. Harry hugged me back before asking "When did you get so good at this?"

"It's a gift."

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A nasty side effect of rumors is that no matter how much support you may get from your friends it's always the whispers behind your back or the glances you catch from people when they think you're not looking that get to you. Sometimes ever after it blows over you still get that same paranoia of looking over your shoulder to see if people are looking or whispering again. And for all his control at home (which was more or less control) the stress of it all was really getting to Harry. Whether it was at lunch or in class, Harry would end up having to look over his shoulder and find at least three people looking at him with either looks of fear or disgust, maybe even both. One study hall was particularly bad. It was completely silent except for the sounds of quills scratching paper and the occasional scrape of a chair's legs scratching the floor, but that only added to the silent fear that came from the other students every time Harry was in the room. Looking back on it now they weren't totally to blame. The idea of a student or at least someone in the school setting a monster who can petrify people on Muggleborns was something that not only cause hysteria among the students but even the teachers were on eggshells. I was sitting with Lyra doing our homework and it was one of the most awkward silences in our friendship. Not only was I mute around Lyra since he unofficial hospital visit, but Ginny kept glancing over at us more times than naught. Then everyone watched as Harry excused himself from the room and as soon as he was gone I heard Ernie Macmillan from the table next to Lyra's and mine say "So anyway, I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him as his next victim, its best that he keeps a low profile for a while."

Hannah Abbott asked "But why would he want to attack Justin?"

"Well, Justin let it slip to Potter that he was Muggle-born."

"And you definitely think that Potter's the heir of Slytherin?"

"Hannah, he's a _Parselmouth_. Everyone knows that that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one that can talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself 'Serpent Tongue'."

"But Harry always seemed so nice, though. And after all, he is the one who made You-Know-Who disappear."

"That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. He didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him."

"But his cousin's Muggle-born, and I always see him helping her out."

"It's probably just for show. Mark my words, once Potter's done with her, she'll end up just like Creevey."

That was the final straw. I stood up and went to wring Macmillan's scrawny neck in my hands but Lyra grabbed me around the middle and hauled me out of the room, but not before I got a word in. "Next time any of you want to talk badly about someone, get the courage to say it to their face!"

"Why are you defending him?" Macmillan shouted back, one of his friends trying to restrain him while I fought against Lyra. Unluckily for her I was a bit stronger and it was harder for her to hold on.

"Because he's my family and you stink at talking quietly. Why don't you say that to his face like a man?" There were a bunch of gasps and Macmillan only got madder.

"You are so blind! Potter will petrify you next, you'll see!"

I didn't see then, because later on that night everyone was too preoccupied about the fact that Justin and Nearly Headless Nick (or Sir Nicholas as he preferred) were found petrified. And once again Harry was found at the scene of the crime. I didn't miss Macmillan's face, one that said that he was smug about thinking that he was right, but also the sadness and anger because his friend had been attacked and in his perception by someone who was roaming free.


	14. Great, Yellow Eyes On a White Christmas

**Okay, so I have a question for all of you. I am in the process of making a trailer for the fanfic but I am in need of help. By the end of this chapter there will be some things that you can suggest or help with. **

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**Great, Yellow Eyes On a White Christmas Morning**

Oh Christmas Eve, oh Christmas Eve, why have you forsaken me? Christmas was my second favorite holiday (my birthday being the first though that doesn't technically count) until my first one at Hogwarts. I hadn't gotten a single letter from my parents, and I waited and waited, thinking foolishly that maybe the owl got lost on the way or it was just a little late. But no, my parents simply didn't want me there. Luckily for me, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lyra stayed behind too. A large majority of the school went home to spend the holidays with their families, so the huge castle seemed eerily empty. I knew Harry's reasons for not going back but Lyra didn't really want to talk about it. The only thing I got out of her was that her dad was perfectly okay with her staying at the castle, and the feeling was mutual with Lyra.

So imagine my surprise when on Christmas morning someone jumped on my bed and shouted "Did get up! It's Christmas! Get up Did!" I cracked my eyes open and saw Lyra jumping up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. She was being…very un-Lyra like.

"Who? What? How?" I mumbled sleepily, slowing falling back to bed but Lyra would have none of it. Even Sable wasn't up but thanks to Lyra she was awake and meowed angrily, like she was grumpy from being woken up so early. Now that I could relate to. With a blanket still around my shoulders, I let Lyra drag me past to the door, Sable following, which was right past Ginny's bed as she glared at us, namely Lyra, who glared back. We scrambled down the stairs until we reached the common room, which had become very festive up to that moment with a tall Christmas tree (though nowhere near as tall as the one in the Great Hall), snow men that danced on the holly wreaths hung everywhere and skated back and forth on the edge of the fireplace, nutcrackers that actually cracked nuts in a rhythmic rendition of _Deck The Halls_ and a wizard tune called _Frogs Croak For Santa_ or something, and even a mistletoe that someone (namely the Weasley twins) had charmed to pop up in the most random places so no one could avoid them.

Lyra had taken me to the tree where a pile of presents awaited all the Gryffindors who decided to stay behind. Sitting me down on the couch, she checked the presents and gathered as many as she could while Sable curled up on my lap, and brought them over to me, repeating the process to get the rest. After getting all of them Lyra sat next to me and practically shoved the first one in my hand and said "Open it."

The present in my hands was a thin rectangular thing that was covered with green wrapping paper and a red and maroon ribbon so meticulously wrapped that I couldn't believe anyone would put so much detail into it. I almost felt bad for ripping it, and from the looks of it so did Lyra, but at least I got to the center of it…a notebook.

"Oh" I said hesitantly "This is…nice. I was running out of paper actually." It was only then that I noticed her wearing a necklace with things like a broomstick, a cauldron, and strangest of all what looked to be a costume jewel in the shape of a teardrop.

"It's not for class." Lyra smiled as if I was a little kid who pronounced 'synonym' as 'cinnamon'. "Well technically it is. I charmed it with my notebook so that we can communicate by writing in it. Here let's try it out." She grabbed a notebook of her own from behind a pillow, took two quills and handed one to me before writing something on her notebook. When I tried to see she lifted the notepad showing a small smile before putting the quill away and closing her notebook. Turning her head to me she said "Well look."

So I did and my eyes popped when I saw the words _Impressed now?_ written clearly on the paper but I hadn't done anything. When I turned to answer Lyra waved an ink pot in front of my face. Getting the message I repeated what she did and wrote down _No, I'm writing because I __**so**__ bored. _When I finished Lyra looked eagerly at her notebook before her face became worried, so I quickly wrote down _Just Kidding. _This got a smile out of her.

"So do you like it?" She asked expectantly and I knew that she really wanted me to like this.

"Yeah!" I agreed quickly. "You must've spent a lot of time on this."

"My brother taught me how to do it so we could speak without father knowing." Lyra said before growing quiet. I knew that the subject of her brother was touchy so I didn't pry before then, but the not knowing of who he was and what happened to him was getting too much. So finally I swallowed that nervous lump in my throat and went for it.

"Lyra, what happened to your brother?" Lyra looked at me, surprised that I asked that, before looking down and picking her fingernails. Even Sable became interested as her ears perked up and she turned her black head in Lyra's general direction. Lyra's young face darkened considerably, a severe to the point of complete contrast to her happiness when she woke me up. In all the years I knew Lyra she had always played things close to the vest, and only a few people, such as me, were allowed the knowledge of her secrets and wishes. Lyra was a curious girl from the beginning, as she was never entirely happy but never entirely sad, always stuck in some in between emotion. And, as it was, it was on that Christmas morning, that I learned the reason why.

Lyra, in the softest tone I had heard her speak up to that point, spoke "I had a brother named Marius Walden Macnair. He was already a teenager by the time I was born. He was…incredibly kind and honest considering how my father and mother are, and it may come as a shock considering he was sorted into Slytherin. That aside, he was often called 'The worst Slytherin in the history of the school.'"

"How come?"

"Well, for one thing he never found much sadistic pleasure in torturing other students for real. And he also was rather polite to Hagrid."

"Is that why he's always so nice to you?" I asked thinking back to when a bunch of Slytherins were bothering Lyra and Hagrid practically came to the rescue.

"That's part of it I suppose. After he graduated he went into the Ministry as part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement until…until he died. The official report states that he was killed almost a decade after the First Wizarding War, and everyone thinks that Marius was a Death Eater like my father, and even in the official report my father claimed that they were both Imperiused, forced to follow You-Know-Who. But I don't believe it."

"You don't?"

"Of course not!" Lyra defended more passionately than ever. "Marius was the kindest person I have ever known. He was the one who took care of me, who loved me, who treated as me as more than a continuation of a bloodline, not my parents. Dad was being too busy _killing_ and Mum too busy getting _drunk_, course now she probably gets drunk somewhere else. No person who loves his sister that much or defies the standards of pureblood mania could ever do such a thing, course dead old dad would rather have him be a dead Death Eater than a living fighter for light." Lyra pursed her lips and breathed in through her nose, trying to control the tears that threatened to burst from her eyes. I also felt something tight in my throat so I reached over and hugged her, seeing that she was hurting form some sort of lack of love like I was. She wrapped her arms around my torso almost immediately and cried into my shoulder. "It isn't fair." She sobbed. "Why did he have to be taken from me? He was the only one who loved me!"

"That's not true." I said. "There are plenty of people that love you."

"Really?" She asked sardonically. "Like who?"

I thought for a moment, and came up with an answer however awkwardly. "Well there's me."

She looked up and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "You love me?" She seemed almost _too_ happy at the prospect.

"Well maybe not on that level." I said thinking about how to answer. "But I do like you…as a friend. And I'm happy that you are because you've helped me a lot since Ginny and I split up."

"Yeah, by the way, how are things going with the Weaselette?" Lyra asked rubbing her eyes which were becoming crusty with all the crying.

"Please don't call her that. I know we didn't part well but I like to think that we can patch things up."

"And have you?"

"Well, not yet. But I think Ginny's starting to warm up to the idea of it. Last week she mumbled a 'Hi' to me."

"Oh a 'Hi'. I suppose in another week she say 'Hello'."

"Don't be so mean. You were like that when I met you. And you know something, I think that someone might be bullying her."

"Anything to back this up?"

"Well she's like she usually is, but there's something else there too. I mean, she's more…freaked out than usual. Do you know what I mean?"

"No…" Lyra shook her head slowly and looked at me like I had grown an extra had. "Maybe you're just reading too much into it. I mean Weasley has been off for a while now."

"I don't think so. I may not be good at reading things but if my gut tells me something's not right then I'm going with it." **Foreshadowing**: _use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later_. Strange how often that happens to me, huh?

.

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"Tell me again how you ended up as a cat." I asked Hermione when Harry, Lyra, Ron and I visited her in the Hospital Wing. Apparently, according to Harry and Ron, Hermione had been experimenting with a Transfiguration spell with a cat but it went badly wrong and Hermione ended up being half-cat or something.

"I only looked like a cat." Hermione said unconsciously stroking Sable's head before she started coughing something awful. It wasn't long before she put her hand over her mouth and pulled it back to reveal a brown hair ball.

"Sure, and the hair ball is just an accessory, right?" I said before Harry shushed me.

"Just leave it Did. It's none of your business anyways." Ron snapped looking very annoyed though a bit ridiculous as his mouth was filled to the brim with Licorice Wands. Then taking a big, and painful looking gulp, he said rather rudely "Why's she here?"

I snapped back "Lyra's my friend and she came to see if Hermione was okay too."

"Why? I never thought her people would care about a Muggle-Born. It's almost like she's human." Ron said mostly to Harry who looked like he wanted to shut him up.

Lyra stage whispered to me "It's almost like he's an idiot." Ron's face became as red as his hair and I'm sure a fight would've started (since they had both drawn their wands) if Hermione had not intervened.

"That's enough you two. Ronald, I think it was nice of Lyra to visit all things considered. Now please, let's try to have a nice holiday while we still can." At with the words of the bright witch, we continued trading presents and eating candies. I suggested the idea of a Secret Santa so getting presents wouldn't be such as hassle. I got Hermione _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_ because I thought she's like it, Hermione got Harry _Spell Potions_ to help with class (though I doubt that he's ever read it), and Harry got Sable (yes, she was in it too) a scratching post. Ron had (in his words) the misfortune of picking Lyra and did his least to get her a simple card that said

_Have an okay Christmas. _

_Now leave me alone. _

_Signed, Ron Weasley._

"Wow, this blank card makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Lyra said with a sarcastic smile then stuck her tongue out at him. Being the mature person he was, Ron did the same.

"I think we should get going. We've got to do…a thing." I said putting Sable on the ground and walking out with her and Lyra before moving out.

"So what's this thing we have to do?" Lyra asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to give you this." I took a box from out of my jacket and handed it to her. Lyra opened it up a bit hesitantly at first before diving in and ripping it all off. There in her hands was a box. Once getting rid of the lid it revealed a pair of maroon and gold ribbons that gave off a quick sheen every minute, though it sometimes went off randomly.

"I know it's not exactly the best thing and I kind of messed up the charm but I figured that it was the thought that counted-Okay then!" Lyra has pounced and given me a huge hug.

Pulling back with a small blush on her face she said "Thanks for the present. I love it."

"No problem-Oh man!" I shouted digging through my pockets more througoughly.

"What is it?"

"I think I forgot something. Let me check." Pulling out Neville's Remembrall, I saw that it was indeed glowing red and filling with red smoke. I started running in the opposite direction with Sable at my heels and shouted back "I'll be back soon. I promise!"

I was running through one of the less used hallways to my dorm when I stopped abruptly, Sable crashing into the back of my legs. "Wait! Now I remember! I'm supposed to give Ginny her present." I took out a smaller package in my inner pocket and remembered that I asked Mrs. Weasley to send over a picture she had taken of Ginny and I in Diagon Alley the day we got our wands. With Ginny's fear coming to light I realized that even though Ginny had been distant I hadn't been a good friend either, so a good Christmas present might've brought her out. "Let's check if that's all I've forgotten." I took out the Remembrall again and the red smoke disappeared. "Yep, that's everything-" Sable let out a horrible yowl and I might've been dead if I had turned out. I turned my sights to the Remembrall's reflective surface and the last thing I saw was a pair of great, yellow eyes.

**HA HA HA HA! I. AM. EVIIIIIIIILLLLL! To all those who thought I wouldn't petrify her, eat it! JK. Though that aside, I still petrified Dahila. Ooh, I can't wait for your reviews!**

**Okay so I need some suggestions for actors for this fanfic, such as:**

**Marius **

**Lyra's mother **

**There may be others in the future but for now this is all I've got. **

**Bye! **

**(And please reply!)**


	15. The Last Days of the First Year

**Okay, I fixed the last chapter and another chapter so now I think almost everything's fixed. ****Sadness! This is going to be the last chapter of the _Chamber of Secrets_! **

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

**The Last Days of the First Year**

Being petrified is not like being dead or in a Full Body-Bind Curse. We're not dead (practically turned into stone like Medusa), and it's like we're asleep, or more sensibly, in a coma and are defenseless. Being turned into stone by a Basilisk is like with Medusa just looking at someone. The only things that can cure Petrification are Mandrake Roots, which fortunately for us Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey had been able to grow and use into an antidote.

I suppose I "woke up" when I heard someone telling me to. I thought for a moment that it was my mother until the pitch became higher and I recognized that it was Hermione. "Madame Pomfrey, are you sure she'll wake up." I heard a soft and somewhat heart-breaking meow coming from my feet and a weight that curled around itself by my torso and I knew that it was Sable. "It's okay Sable." Hermione said gently. "She'll be back with us soon."

"Exactly Ms. Granger. We just have to be patient, that's all." The old nurse's voice rang in my ears and immediately I groaned in discomfort at the soars on my back. I slowly regained vision like a milky film being cleared up, and soon the world went from black to grey to color again. "You're awake! It's a miracle." Hermione breathed out as she sitting in a chair beside my temporary bed.

"Some miracle. My back is killing me." I muttered and Hermione helped me sit up. That's when I noticed other people getting up too, like Colin and Justin and some older Ravenclaw girl with blond hair. "What happened?"

"You were petrified, like Colin, Justin, Sir Nicholas, Penelope Clearwater and me."

"You were-"

"Yes. And I think there are two people who can explain that better than I can." Hermione said before standing up and moving out of the way to reveal Lyra just walking up. She looked kind of terrible, to put it bluntly, since the bags under her eyes became more prominent and her hair, which usually had these cute curls, had gone lank.

"Did." She breathed out and hugged me tightly. "We were so worried. We thought that you'd never wake up."

"How long was I out?"

"Since Christmas, and it's June now so about-"

"Seven months? I've been unconscious for seven months?" I shouted, startling the other patients and receiving a stern look from Madam Pomfrey that could rival Madame Pince's when someone so much as breathes too loudly in the library.

"Actually, six months and a week." Lyra replied.

"By the way, what did you mean by we?"

"Well there's me, and Harry, Granger, Weasley and-"

"Me." An unusually timid voice said. When I looked up, to my great and unabashed surprise, was Ginny. She looked about as badly as Lyra did, maybe even worse. Her hair was lank and her eyes looked swollen and red, either from lack of sleep or crying, but she looked more 'Ginny' than usual. She had definitely gotten more color than usual and seemed to have more clarity in her eyes. Acting weirdly, Ginny shyly walked towards me until we were face-to-face, but neither of us was able to look at the other in the eye. And let me tell you, you could just _feel_ the awkward. "Did, I-"

"Look Ginny, I don't know exactly what came over you in the beginning of the year, or what the big problem was, but I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I haven't been a good friend and tried to…talk with you more or something. I'm surprised you're even talking to me again, and for kind of dumping you for Lyra, no offense…"

"None taken." Said girl said shrugging.

"But I'm hoping that maybe we could – and I can't believe the words are coming out of my mouth – _talk_ this out and try to be friends again."

"I'd like that. But I also think that it's time that you know the truth." With that, Ginny and Lyra told me everything that had happened in the year. First off, that diary that Ginny was so obsessed about came from Lucius Malfoy, and he slipped it into her cauldron that day in Flourish and Blotts', but no one could prove that. And also that diary was a possession of Voldemort's and it possessed Ginny into writing the messages on the wall (with chicken blood – I'm not sure if I should be thankful), and also into summoning the Basilisk through temporary Parsel-Tongue use. I had been petrified on the way to the dorms when I was attacked, and I was found a few hours later when people heard Sable calling out. Because of her blindness Sable was spared from being killed but the Basilisk threw her around before retreating. Also, it was thanks to Neville's Remembrall that I was only petrified, since looking into the Basilisk's eyes directly would've surely killed me. Hermione was petrified a few months after me along with Penelope Clearwater while after figuring out what the monster was. Harry and Ron figured out the rest from some giant spider in the Forbidden Forest, came back to the school to find Ginny missing and the responsibility of finding her placed on Lockhart's shoulders. However, he had no intention of helping anyone because he was getting ready to run, and would have if the boys hadn't stopped him and forced them to go with them into the Chamber, which was located under Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. Wrapping it all up, Harry, Ron and Lockhart got to the Chamber, Lockhart lost his memory and was sent to St. Mungo's (probably for the rest of his life), and Harry was able to kill the Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor. Ginny and Lyra know this because Harry told Ginny who told Lyra. But there was something else…

"Quick question: since when did you two start speaking?" This question seemed to throw them for a loop, as they both looked at each other and tried to see which one would go first. Since Ginny explained most of the story of the strange events of the school, Lyra seemed ready to take over for the even stranger happening of how they started speaking.

"Well, it actually started because of you." Lyra said.

"Come again?" I didn't see how I could cause something like that. I'm a little egoistic but I'm not so full of myself to believe that I could cause _that_.

"When we first found out you were petrified, we all just went numb. I think Harry took it the worst."

"Which is actually what Tom wanted."Ginny added.

"Okay – who and why?"

"Tom is You-Know-Who's real name. And he wanted me to set the Basilisk on you first in order to hurt Harry, but I wouldn't let him."

"So you diverted the Basilisk to Colin." I said and Ginny looked ashamed.

"In her defense, she really didn't have much of a choice." Lyra said and Ginny smiled in appreciation.

"Wow, you guys really are friends. But still – how?"

"Oh yeah." Lyra amended. "Well, after your attack Ginny here kind of lost it and tried to flush down the diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom – but Harry ended up finding it. Also, after that I found her crying in the same hallway I found you in. You may not remember this Ginny, but you kept muttering to yourself about how no one was going to forgive you for something, especially not Did. I tried talking to her about it but she told me to bugger off. But after she got better" insert glare from Ginny "we got talking and she really sounded sorry about what she did to everyone and you."

"And it turns out that we do have a few things in common."

"Like at one point we both had brothers"

"We both punched them at one time"

"And you're both our friends."

"And then there's the fact that Fowles and Rykers hate all of us."

"Why do they hate you, Ginny?" I asked rubbing Sable's head, causing the cat to purr while Lyra rolled the Remembrall in her hands and Ginny sat on the bed swinging her legs.

"Not sure, but I'm pretty sure when she said 'Keep your filth to yourself, blood traitor' it meant that she hates me."

"I'm just sad that I didn't get another punch in."

"Lyra, what are you talking about?" Ginny asked and Lyra got this look on her face that totally said 'Busted'.

"Remember the day of the first Quidditch match when Fowles and Rykers hair was changed?" Lyra inquired taking out her wand and a handkerchief. Pointing her wand at the handerchief, Lyra muttered _Multicorfors_ _**rubras**__**et auri**_, and then the white piece of cloth became maroon and gold. Next she said _Formare _and it took on the shape of a pointed top, then a circle, and then (more familiar) into a shape that looked like the quill of a porcupine.

"It was you?" I asked as Lyra changed the color and shape back before putting it away. "But why? This happened before we were even friends."

"I just wanted Fowles to leave you alone. Plus I've known her since we were kids and I figured this was a pretty good way at getting revenge."

"But how'd you get into the Slytherin dorms without a password." Ginny whispered so that others wouldn't bother hearing.

"I never said I got in without a password. I may have tricked a Slytherin into giving me a password, snuck into the girls first year dorms and changed their hair before tying it to the posts. I got the idea from when you told Ginny about the time they called you _that _name."

"Well, as evil as that was, I must say I'm impressed." Ginny admitted.

"Yeah, I mean you even stole their shoes."

"I didn't take their shoes." Lyra said looking confused.

"Sure you did." Ginny said. "Fowles said it herself that someone stole their shoes."

"No, really, I didn't steal their shoes." Lyra insisted. "All I did was mess up their hair."

"Then who did?" As soon as I said that we all thought about how Luna said that the _Nargles _were going to tie their hair to their beds and steal their shoes. I know that Lyra did that hair part but not the shoes, so did someone or the Nargles really do it. Perhaps we'll never know.

.

.

.

Ginny and Lyra went ahead of Hermione and me to the Great Hall. Colin went along with them since he was the first to be examined and checked out for further signs. I could hear him chattering about how excited he was to tell his parents and little brother he was okay and what the experience was like. Soon enough Hermione and I were checked out next and we headed straight for the Great Hall, Sable already being sent to my room.

"Hermione, Dahlia, welcome back!" Nearly Headless Nick (sorry, Sir Nicholas) greeted jovially. I'm not quite sure how he was treated but all the same it was great to have him back.

"Thank you Sir Nicholas." Hermione said politely and me with my own "Thanks Sir Nick." before walking down the Gryffindor table. Neville was the warning system to the others when he shouted "Harry, its Hermione and Did!" The boys turned their heads towards us and there was a light in their eyes – relief. Hermione ran first with me following and she was the first to hug Harry. She went to hug Ron but the two stopped themselves, ending it with a good friendly shake of the hands. I rolled my eyes playfully before going towards Harry. I was planning on giving him a handshake too but he beat me to it by hugging me. I admit that I was a little shocked, but nonetheless I hugged him back, blushing when I heard Hermione and Ginny 'Aww' at the sight. I stuck my tongue at them before releasing Harry.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Of course." I answered. "You know it's going to take more than a giant snake to keep me down."

"Right. I suppose that it would take more Did. Welcome back." Harry said with a big smile that I couldn't help but return. I turned to Ron and face the problem that it would be a bit awkward hugging him, so I stuck my fist out to him. He was a bit confused but he got the message and fist bumped me.

"Welcome back you two." Ron said.

"It's good to be back." Hermione answered a little breathless at looking at Ron, though back then I wasn't sure why. I felt like a third wheel and went to sit between Ginny and Lyra. That's when I spotted Neville.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." I said searching through my robe pockets until I found the Remembrall and held it out for Neville. "Here you go." I said giving it back t him. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked confused.

"For lending it to me. If it wasn't for you being nice enough to let me borrow it, I probably would've been in worse trouble then I was."

"Oh, well, you're welcome." Neville said with a blush on his face when the other boys started muttering not so quietly about how Neville got himself a girlfriend or something along those lines. Professor McGonagall then tapped her glass and rang out "May I have your attention please?"

The Golden Trio quickly sat down as Dumbledore rose from his seat. "Before we begin the feast, let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey who's Mandrake Juice has been so successfully ministered to all who had been petrified." (Insert clapping of approval) "Also in light of recent events, as a school treat all exams have been canceled." (Insert enormous clapping from the entire school except Hermione). Then the giant doors of the Great Hall opened and everyone turned their heads to look. What they found was a sight to behold. Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban because he was a suspect twice in the Hogwarts attacks but since people found out the truth he had been obviously released.

"Sorry I'm late." The Half-Giant said in his deep voice. Everyone stared at him, though I didn't care enough to see what expressions were on their faces. I think there was just a general aura of happiness that (almost) everyone's favorite Games Keeper was alright. "The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused. Some ruddy bird called Errol." At this, Ron's face once again turned about as red as his hair. Hagrid stopped in front of Harry, Hermione and Ron and thanked them for his release and they all ended up hugging him, not caring about people watching. In fact, everyone then started clapping away, starting with my cousin and growing louder and louder until the whole student body (even the Slytherins) filled the halls with cheers and applause while surrounding the great man.

.

.

.

Saying goodbye to my friends was really hard. The only comfort was knowing that I would be able to write them without interference (aka Dobby who Harry had recently freed of his enslavement) and would see them as soon as school started.

"This summer is going to be really boring." Lyra said dully as we said our final goodbyes in our compartment so that Lyra's father wouldn't see, though Lyra doubted he would even be there and would probably send their House-Elf Pippin. "I can't come over to either of your houses and you can't come to mine. But at least we can't write." Lyra hugged me and shook Ginny's hand before going out first. I looked through the window and saw that her father was not there (thankfully) but there was a small brown eyed House-Elf in rags like Dobby was waiting. Lyra seemed genuinely happy to see him before taking his hand – _POP_ – they were both gone.

"Apparition." Ginny answered. "I remember my dad telling me about it. I think we learn it in a few years."

"Looks cool enough." I said walking out with Ginny. I saw two other people as well. There was Rykers, looking down at her shoes while her father barked at her to hurry up, and then there was Fowles, who tried to get her tight lipped mother to look at her but she was too focused on something else. I almost felt bad for them. Almost. I met up with Harry and we said our last goodbyes to the Weasley family and Hermione before running out to the barrier where we nearly crashed into Muggle traffic. We rolled our trolleys along until we came to the end of the station where my parents were waiting. I tightened my hands around the rails of my trolley. I hadn't seen my parents in months and now this reunion didn't feel as beautiful as it would be in the movies. Suddenly I didn't feel so brave.

"Yeah, I remember my first time." Harry said looking at me sympathetically.

"Really? How bad was it?"

"Pretty bad. But now at least there's someone sharing the load." Harry said meaningfully and I had to smile at that. He was right. We each had someone now to carry to load of our family – their hatred and ignorance – and knowing that there was someone who you could confine in made it a little easier. "Ready to go?"

Giving a toothy grin I said with greater confidence "Defintely."

**And end. Not the end of the story of course. And for future reference there won't really be a sequel story (unless you want). Otherwise I will continue the rest of the years in this story. Review if you have any objections.**

**So next chapter (whatever form it may be) is going to be _The Prisoner of Azkaban_. Please feel free to send in suggestions of what you would like to see most – such as do you want Dahlia to meet Sirius or see Remus transform or face off against a Dementor or Boggart. Just about anything from the books or movies. There will definitely be some more twists and secrets, secrets and twists, twisted secrets and such. **

**Bye!**


	16. A Review of Summer on Harry's 13th Birth

**Here ****it is people! The Prisoner of Azkaban setting for **_**Dahlia: The Muggleborn Dursley. **_**And to answer a few questions…**

**Dracarot****:I will take that into consideration, though it would help if you were more specific on the subject. Though great suggestion.**

**ThatKaylaPerson****: I was thinking about Lyra and Ginny and since you bothered part of this chapter is for you.**

**Dimcairien****: Yes, I'm glad too.**

**FleurSuoh****: Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. I will certainly take that tidbit into consideration, though you'll just have to see what happens. **

**Rachel-Rabbii****: You're wish is my command and part of this chapter is for you.**

**AriesAriels****: The crush I am iffy on, as I think while it's cute it can also be a bit creepy for me. But I will try to make some friendship there.**

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

_**Prisoner of Azkaban**_

**A Review of Summer on Harry's 13****th**** Birthday**

"Happy birthday Harry." I said giving him one of the two cupcakes I swiped from Dudley's not-so-secret stash. Luckily I had seen him steal these from mother's cupboard otherwise I wouldn't have touched them. The longest he had stored food then forgotten it was about two weeks and we only learned that before of the smell and rat. I don't think I've seen Mum that freaked out since I got my letter. Oh, and since you may be wondering, from the time my parents picked me and Harry up from the station to Harry's 13th birthday, every moment spent with them has been like forever carrying an elephant in the room. They tried pretending that nothing had changed (and by that I mean trying to forget the fact I was a witch), while I tried to get them to admit it. My reasoning was that if they just acknowledged it then maybe they would grow to tolerate it. It was not easy at all since whenever I tried to bring it up in front of them they pretty much plugged their fingers in their ears and sang loudly. And Dudley was _no_ help _whatsoever_. He often made sure to call me a freak (not so subtly by coughing) the word magic was even implied by me. Harry tried talking me out of it since he said it was pointless trying to get them to accept it, but I was persistent and as the Sorting Hat once said very stubborn.

Anyways, back on the birthday, I took out a candle from my pocket which had somewhat melted a bit and placed it firmly on the cupcake, breaking through the pink frosting and the vanilla base. I then took out my wand but Harry shrunk away scared. "What are you doing?"

"Lighting the candle with a match." I said continuing to strike it.

Harry did not look convinced. "Are you sure you can handle it?" He had reason to worry since I was nearly burned my mother's living room curtains while playing with matches. However that was when I was five and overly clumsy. I was just two days away from turning twelve and I felt a lot better about my skills.

"Yeah, I've been practicing since Friday. Now shush." I said looking at Harry's outstretched hand. I struck the match and very slowly moved my hand until the head of the match made contact with the wick of the candle and…it lit. Harry and I sighed with relief that everything went alright…that was until it shot out a huge burst of flame that lit his lamp on fire. I stopped blew out the match when it lessened and stomped on it for good measure immediately while Harry used a blanket to snuff out the flame before it got too big. Holding a now slightly charged cupcake, Harry looked at me with an expression that was a mixture of fear, apprehension and downright blame. I broke the match in two before carefully putting the match in a trashcan in the corner of the room, all the while smiling and chuckling nervously.

"Heh heh. Happy birthday." Harry shook his head at me and blew out the candle. Harry then opened gifts and letters from Hagrid, Ron and Hermione, each wishing him a happy birthday. In Ron's letter, his dad won a Daily Prophet Prize Draw for seven hundred galleons. Mr. Weasley took the family to Egypt, visited Ron's brother Bill and gave most off the money to him; the remainder was used to provide Ron with a new wand to replace the one that was broken the year before. Percy was entering his seventh year and had been named Head Boy. From Hermione's latter, she and her parents were currently vacationing in France. And Harry even got a letter from Hogwarts with not only his and mine reinstatement letters but an extra for Harry that said that since he was now a third year he was allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade as long as a parent or guardian signed the permission form.

"Well, there goes that trip." Harry resigned himself.

"Maybe not." I said positively. "Aunt Marge is coming over tomorrow. Maybe you could pull a Dad and try to suck up while she's over."

"But she hates me!"

"Who besides me doesn't?"

"Thanks Did."

"Sorry. But it's better than nothing."

Harry seemed to accept the answer. "Alright. I'll try to be nice as long as she does."

"When has that happened?" I asked rhetorically and Harry nodded his head. Just then the door opened and I found Dad standing in the doorway with a nasty look on his face.

"All right, that's enough." He said. "You're five minutes over your visiting time. Dahlia, go to your room."

"Sure Dad." I huffed out standing up. "Goodnight Harry." I pushed past my father and almost made it to my bedroom when he called my name. I turned around and found Father already standing in front of me. "Now listen closely" he said "Your Aunt Marge is coming over tomorrow so I want nothing but good behavior from you. That means #1 no talk of rubbish, and #2 keep that freak cat of yours under lock and key."

"Dad, it's not rubbish, it's magic which I not even allowed to do outside of school until I'm seventeen. And Sable hasn't been able to go outside my room since Dudley 'fell' over. And she's not a freak, just blind."

"That cat did it and we both know it. Now I won't hear anything more. Go to your room." I went to my room, slamming my door for good measure, before plopping down on my bed with Sable pacing herself by my feet. She really did seem like a dog sometimes considering her need to run around the house. Though then again it's probably just her nature to run and hunt nearly anything that moves, even if it was Dudley. I noticed that even though all the lights were out something was glowing from Harry's room. I went against the wall and started tapping ".- ... .- - / .- .-. . / -.- - ..- / -.. - .. -. -. ..-.." _What are you doing?_

It took about a minute for Harry to respond. ".. / .- - / .-. . .-. ..-. - .-. - .. -. -. / .- / ... .-. . .-.. .-.. -..- / .- ... .- - / . .-.. ... . ..-.." _I am performing a spell, what else?_ Harry and I were actually getting better at this Morse Code thing since a year ago I had to have him repeat his sentences about five times (for me about four) before either of us could understand what the other was saying.

"-.. .. -.. / .. - / .- - .-. -.- ..-.." _Did it work?"_

"-. - .-.-.-"_ No._ I could practically see Harry's face scrunch up.

"-.- . . .-. / - .-. -.- .. -. -. .-.-.-" _Keep trying._

".- ... - .-. ... / .-. . .-. ..-. - .-. - .. -. -. / - ... . / ... .-. . .-.. .-.. ..-.. / -.- - ..- / - .-. / - . ..-.." _Who's performing the spell? You or me?_

".- . .-.. .-.. / - ... . -." _Well then!_ I ended the communication and left Harry on his own and I heard my father enter his room twice when Harry made the light too bright. I lied back down on my bed and gently scratching Sable's belly, thinking about how she was getting cozier as the days went by, which meant that something was scaring her. Maybe it was because she had started playing in Mother's flower garden and mother tried to beat her with a bush wacker. Maybe it was because of Dudley trying to purposefully stomp her every time he saw her (though most times it ended up with him limping away with a bite mark to prove it). No, it wasn't that. A cat though she was, Sable was very brave and was not easily discouraged (proven when she stayed at me side when I was petrified.) Something else was going on that I didn't understand at the time. Hoping to take my mind off of that rather unpleasant speculation, I decided to try out the spell on my own to read my latest letters from Ginny and Lyra. I first decided to try out from Ginny, who was having a great time in Egypt.

_Dear Did,_

_You'll never believe where we went. Oh wait, I told you in my last letter. Well, as you know, __we (my family) won a trip to Egypt and we've been visiting my brother Bill who works there as a Curse Breaker. It's been such a great time but it's really, __**really**__ hot! Not at all like England or Scotland. I'm pretty sure Ron sweated through two shirts on the first day. But aside from the hot weather, Cairo is amazing. Cairo is such a large city (it could probably hold ten Hogwarts castles and still have room to spare). _

_We got to see something really great too. Bill took us to see the Muggle Sphinx of Giza which actually concealed a real sphinx inside the structure that almost killed Percy since Fred and George tried to trap him inside one of the nearby pyramids (I'm not sure I've ever seen Mum so mad). Bill also showed us one of the pyramids that was full of skeletons of Muggles grave robbers who had broken in. It was horrible! They had grown extra heads and had stuff that I didn't even think that body could grow in places __I didn't even know existed! _

_It was actually pretty nice to see Bill and Charlie again after so long. Bill with his curses and Charlie with his dragons, who admittedly either liked him a lot or really hated him if the scorches and soot were anything to go by. Even Percy looked to be having fun but being his usual self he tried not to show it. I think that maybe even I'll miss him when he graduates this year. Speaking of which, I can't believe we're going to be second years! It's so exciting, but of course Fred and George had to ruin it by reminding me that I was still younger than all of them. They're going to- _

Suddenly the writing on the letter changed and in came

_**Hey there! It's Fred!**_

**And George!**

_**And we've taken Ginny's letter to tell you**_

**That we take pride in our**** pranks.**

_**So we feel no regret **_

**In trapping Percy in a tomb, **

_**At least until Mum caught us.**_

**So if you don't see us back at Hogwarts **

_**You'll know who done it. Oops! Got to go.**_

**Ginny's got that look in her eye**

_**And I **_

**Nor I**

_**Want a bad case of her Weasley famous **_

**Bat-Bogey Hex.**

There was a bunch of scribbling and a small rip which indicated that Ginny had taken back the letter by force. I had to admit, the twins were always good for a laugh.

_One day, those two will pay. _And came in Ginny. _Sorry about that. I wanted to ask how you were doing? Have your parents gotten over the shock of you being a witch? I don't know much about Muggles but I hear that knowing about magic can be a rather nasty shock. Also, how is Harry doing? Not that I totally care or anything, it's just that Ron keeps forgetting to send letters and since Harry doesn't know our current address I was worried about him. Not that worried mind you. You know, just forget I asked._ (I didn't.) _Another thing, have you gotten anything from Lyra? I only got one or two letters from her and to be honest this friendship thing with her is a little shaky. Don't tell her I said this, but I still remember her as the creepy girl who kept staring at you for no reason. I know we agreed to be friends but I don't feel all that close to her. Anyways, write back as soon as you can._

_Love__, _

_Ginny _

_P.S I know I __might not be able to make back for your birthday on time so I sent you a present. I saw it in the market place and thought it was really pretty. I know you don't like clothes very much but I still hope you like it. _

I opened the extra package and a postcard was inside wishing me a happy birthday from all the Weasley's and Scabbers the Rat. Ron wrote a post-script message telling me not to let Sable kill Scabbers (which wasn't even her fault since she was a _cat _chasing a _rat_). Also enclosed was a beautifully crafted scarf looking cloth that was incredibly soft. But that wasn't the best part. The best part was that on one side it looked like anything you would expect from any Egyptian Muggle marketplace – a multicolored wrap with bright colors that reminded me of all things daylight – while the other side was a dark blue that was covered with glowing and moving stars, and I even recognized a few constellations.

I wrote back to her immediately, this time using a flashlight so that I was nearly as conspicuous as Harry (plus I didn't know the spell).

_Dear Ginny,_

_Thanks so much for the present, I love it! I hope it didn't cost you too much though. I don't want to be any trouble to you or your parents. I think that you are so lucky to go __somewhere__ for summer vacation. I've been stuck at home ever since we got back. Also, it gets pretty hot over here too. It kind of makes me want to go flying if I wasn't so terrified of it. Anyways, you guys deserve a vacation after everything you've been through in the last two years. _I didn't directly mention the Chamber since it was still pretty sore. _Did you actually go see a Sphinx and did you take any pictures? You better have otherwise you will find yourself bugged by a very impatient (nearly) twelve year old witch. _

_My parents accepting me being a witch hasn't exactly been a good transition. I keep trying to get them to understand (subtly or not) but they never listen. Harry says I should just give up but what am I suppose to do? They're my parents and until someone proves otherwise Dudley is my brother. I don't know if they'll ever like it but the best I can do is at least get them to tolerate it. _

_You know, maybe you and Lyra should spend more time together when we get back to school. We can spend more time booing the Slytherins on the stands, or goof off in the common room, or just talk. You know, scratch the last part. You guys are my friends and it would mean a lot to me if you got along and became friends too. Have a great time in Egypt and I can't wait to see you in school. _

_Love, _

_Did_

_P.S Wish me luck since my Aunt Marge is coming over tomorrow and hopefully neither Harry nor I does something we'll regret like blowing her up or something. _

_P.S.S Harry is fine, just in case you were wondering. ;)_

I stuck that letter in an envelope and sent it to the Weasley House since I knew their time in Egypt was coming to an end. I just hope someone was there by the time it got there. Next I moved onto Lyra's letter.

_Dear Did,_

_I think I should be a Seer since I predicted perfectly that the summer is __boring__! Dad is never home (which may actually be a blessing in disguise) and Pippin is being forced by Dad to clean the house more regularly nowadays, though that may not be surprising since- _This part was stopped abruptly and I could see that Lyra had crossed something out excessively. _I really like Pippin (our House Elf if you couldn't remember) and frankly he's the only one in this wretched house who feels the same. _

_I really wish you (or even Weas-Ginny) were here. Speaking of which, I think that this friendship we have is a little unstable. I know that we agreed to be friends so that you wouldn't have to choose, but I'm not sure if it's going to be as easy as we thought it was. Don't tell her I said this, but I still remember her as the girl who wrote obsessively in her diary __all the time__. _

_Oh, and I read in the Prophet that she and her family won that trip to Egypt. I thought about going but the idea of being stuck with my dad in a foreign country wasn't exactly appealing. But enough about me, I was wondering how you were doing?__ Has your family finally stopped freaking out about the whole 'I'm a witch' thing? I don't know a lot about Muggles but it seems to me that the concept of magic existing can be really unnerving. Maybe if you give them some time they might come around. Sorry but I don't think I'll be able to come over to make your birthday since I live in Scotland. However Lyra Cassiopeia Macnair is nothing if not persistent. _

_Love, _

_Lyra_

_P.S As a way to say I'm sorry, I wanted to give you an early birthday present. It's one of my mom's old jewelry pieces but I don't think she'll miss it. I saw it while Pippin was cleaning and I think that you'll like it, at least that's what I'm hoping. Happy birthday. _

_P.S.S. I almost forgot to mention – though I have no idea why – I want you and Harry to be extremely careful the next time either of you goes outside. I'll explain more when we meet again. Just please, for the love of Merlin, __be careful!_

I had no idea what the bloody hell that meant, so I decided to keep that in mind while simultaneously not heeding to it very well. There was a package that came along with the letter (I'm feel bad that Hedwig had to carry such a heavy load but he was the only owl Harry or I knew and relied on). I went to ripping it open and found a very beautiful piece of jewelry. It looked like a simple piece of jewelry with a tear drop design for the gem and an elegant curve around the neck. I think it's subtly made it more…exquisite to me. I immediately set to writing back to Lyra.

_Dear Lyra, _

_Thank you so much for the gift. I don't think I've ever seen something that expensive. I'm going to try to save it for special occasions though. But I still love it! Thanks! But are you sure that your mom won't mind because I don't want to get you in trouble with your parents. I'm sorry that your summer isn't the best but to be honest mine hasn't been either. My parents still aren't taking the news well and I'm trying but it's not very easy. _

_As for you and Ginny, I think that maybe you two should try getting along as friends before forgetting about the whole thing entirely. Maybe we should watch a Quidditch game or just making jokes at mealtime. I really want you guys to get along and it would still mean a lot to me if you two just gave it an effort. _

_Besides that, I'm actually excited to go to school since we're going to be second years. __From what I've heard it seems like a good bet that something exciting is going to happen this year. And from what your post script said I think that's a safe bet. What is this thing you couldn't even tell me over the letter? I promise to be careful but considering both mine and Harry's luck that doesn't seem very likely. Plus my Muggle Aunt Marge is coming over so I've already got enough things to worry about. Wish me luck!_

_Love, _

_Did_

_P.S Maybe you should play with Pippin when your dad's not home. At least then it wouldn't be so boring. _

I sealed both envelopes and put them on the top of my dresser so that I wouldn't forget them. I lied back down on my bed, and as Sable curled up next to my torso I thought about what Lyra said. Lyra wasn't the type of person to really joke around, and really overemphasize a point. That's why I was a little worried when she practically begged me to be careful about something that she seemed too scared to even write about in a letter. _Something's got to be really freaking her out._ That coupled with Sable's behavior did not bode well for me as I slowly, surely but difficulty fell to sleep.

**And that's the end of the first chapter of the**_** Prisoner of Azkaban**_** theme. What'd you guys think about it? Reviews are, as you know, essential to this story's survival. I heard some of the things you wanted to see from the book/movie **_**Prisoner of Azkaban**_**, but I also want to know what you people want to see in Dahlia's life and relationships, like what she will learn or experience with her friends, family, etc. **

**Oh, and there's pic of Lyra's present on my profile. **

**Bye! **


	17. How To Blow Up Your Aunt

**Hey everyone! I know a lot of you have been excited for this chapter so here it is!**

**Quick thing: I just wanted to post a blurb about a Harry Potter forum called Kings Cross Station. It goes like this:**

Some of King's Cross Station's useful features include:

- Clean and easy navigation.

- Separate sections for all areas of Harry Potter discussion.

- Boards devoted entirely to Fanfiction and Fanart

- Sections to talk about anything not relating to Harry Potter.

- Competitions, Games, Events, as well as fanfiction and fanart Prompts.

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

_**Prisoner of Azkaban**_

**How to Blow Up Your Aunt**

In today's lesson we shall learn the main ingredients on the "How to Blow up Your Aunt" Potion. One of the essential ingredients is the main substance, the aunt – this Aunt can be either Muggle or a witch. Other ingredients include wine, a cat/dog chase, some insults, silent bystanders, two witches/wizards and a temper hot enough to fill an entire spa. Now the first step is to first introduce the Aunt.

"Harry! Harry! Harry! Open the door!" Mother shouted at Harry who ran across the hall to get the door before she could yell at him some more. I was busy adjusting Ginny and Lyra's presents on my person and decided to wearing Lyra's present under my shirt and tying Ginny's present around my neck like a scarf. "Dahlia, take that thing off!"

"But Mum, my friend from school gave it to me as a birthday present."

"Your birthday isn't for two days." Mother countered.

"Yes, well Ginny and Lyra thought it would be nice to send it over since they may not make it back." I said helping her making the last preparations on the table.

"_Ginny_ and _Lyra_? What stupid names?" Dudley muttered eating some cookies while watching the TV.

"Oh, and _Dudley _is such a cool name." I mocked causing him to turn.

"At least it's better than Dahlia."

"Alright, that's enough you two. Your Aunt is here to behave."

And in comes the first ingredient in the recipe: Aunt Marge. Now Aunt Marge looked a lot like Father, who was her brother: large, beefy, and purple-faced, with a mustache, though not as bushy as his. The first time I met her was when I was five and I ran away screaming because I thought she was a monster, especially with one of those horrid bulldogs that she always brings. Every time one of those bloody things came near me they would start barking and biting at me, but Mother and Father paid both me and Dudley to keep our mouths shut. I remember Aunt Marge always bred bulldogs but I never knew if she did anything else. The Bulldog she brought this time, Ripper, came with Marge and immediately began barking at Mother, scaring the wits out of her.

Aunt Marge, after conversing with Mother and pampering her vicious dog, noticed Harry in the doorway and said snidely "Oh, you're still here, are you?"

"Yes."

"Don't say 'yes' in that ungrateful way." Aunt Marge demanded handing the Ripper's reins, I mean leash, to Mother, and immediately he began sniffing and growling at me. I knew what he was growling at. I smelt like c_at_. "Damn good of my brother to keep you. He'd been straight to an orphanage if he'd been left on my doorstep."

Dudley then started laughing and Marge shouted "Is that my Dudders? Is that my little neffy-poo." She then hugged him from behind and gave him loads of butterfly kisses. Sure glad that wasn't me. Maybe I could just sneak out of the room…

Aunt Marge then finally noticed me. "Dahli-Doll!" Too late. She came at me like a water buffalo on a National Geographic special and before I could run off she was on me and I was down. "Is that my little Dahli-Dolly?" She then began kissing my face and pinching my cheeks, but I think it was the 'Dahli-Doll' that I was the most uncomfortable with. "What is that you're wearing?" Aunt Marge asked pointing at my scarf.

"My friend from school sent it to me from her trip to Egypt."

"Egypt? Why the bloody hell would anyone deliberately go to Egypt? It's hot, there's too much sand and it's just a strange place with strange people." Aunt Marge raged as we made our way to the dinner table. Harry came back in and like always he was made to serve without eating.

"Um, Mum?" I whispered to her as she continued eating.

"Hmm?" She asked without looking at me.

"Do you think that…maybe…Harry could eat with us?"

Just like that, all conversation stopped and everyone stared at me like I had grown a second head. Even Harry had stopped and looked at me with an expression of absolute horror and great gratitude. I looked around and my neck seemed to shrink as suddenly that lion courage disappeared like smoke. Aunt Marge was the first to speak, and rather rudely I might add. "What was that?" She was holding a glass of wine that looked half empty (or half full) and I started to worry. When she was _inebriated _she was more abusive.

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I said timidly "I, um, asked Mum if, um, Harry could eat with us."

Aunt Marge took of a swig of her wine before continuing "Vernon, where did you say she was sent?"

"Uh, St. Margaret's School for Girls." Father answered before whispering to Aunt Marge (though I could still hear). "Dahlia has been acting up lately. I think it's because of the boy. Petunia and I thought that some time away from him might set her straight.

"What will really set her straight is a cane!" Aunt Marge said loudly. One thing you've got to know about Aunt Marge is that she can go from hot to cold in a heartbeat. I was shocked and sent a look towards my Mother, just to assure myself that once I got that look of concern then I would be safe. Instead, I saw her looked away as if scared. _Was she-Was she __actually __agreeing with her? _This was the next ingredient, silence by omission and a silent bystander. My train of thought was broken when I heard a cat yowl and a dog bark and soon everyone saw Sable being chased by Ripper. Then Sable got on a chair and a second later jumped on Ripper, causing both Aunt Marge and I to spring up and take back our pets.

"What is that dirty little toerag doing here?" Aunt Marge screamed petting Ripper who continued to bark.

"She's not a toerag! She's a cat!" I shouted back.

"Dahlia, I told you to put that thing in your room." Father boomed.

"I didn't let her out of on purpose with that thing in the house." I practically screamed inclining my head towards Ripper, or Aunt Marge.

"How dare you?" Aunt Marge came charging over and loomed over me. She pointed at Sable then snapped her hand back when Sable gave a growl. "That freak doesn't even have any eyes. Where did you find it? An alleyway."

"As a matter of fact I did. I found her when I was-"

I don't know I would've blown the secret right then and there. But luckily Father barged in just in the nick of time. "Enough! Dahlia, take that creature to your room or else I will put it in the pound." When I made to protest he shouted "Now!" Pursing my lips and keeping tears I bay I angrily pushed the door open and ran upstairs with Sable. And that's where we add the anger. I walked upstairs and found that not only was my door open but also my window. I remember closing it but I wasn't sure if I locked it or not. Just to be safe once I put Sable down on my bed I locked the window. I kneeled down and scratched Sable's head. "How did you get out girl?" I warned Sable not to come out until I was sure Marge and Ripper were gone before returning downstairs. Things had settled down some, mainly with me not speaking to anyone, and everything seemed normal again.

"Can I tempt you, Marge?" Father asked as he brought out some more brandy.

"Just a small one. Excellent nosh, Petunia." Aunt Marge congratulated but I kept my head down. To be honest I felt a little defeated. I barely felt Harry's eyes on me but I knew that whatever emotion was behind them wasn't good. Aunt Marge snapped her fingers at Harry who was collecting the plates and made him collect Ripper's. "Eh, a bit more. Usually just a fry-up for me what with 12 dogs. A bit more. That's a boy! Mmm. Ah! You want to try a little drop of brandy? A little drop of brandy-brandy-windy-wandy for my Rippy-pippy-poo? What are you smirking at? Where is it you sent the boy Vernon?"

"Saint Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys." Father replied. "It's a fine institution for hopeless cases."

"Do they use a can at Saint Brutus's, boy?" Aunt Marge asked Harry who was cleaning the dishes and after a warning glance from Father he replied almost sarcastically "Oh yeah. Yeah, I've-I've been beaten loads of times."

"Excellent." Aunt Marge replied satisfied. "_I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. But you mustn't blame yourself for how this one turned out, Vernon. It's all to do with blood. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia, but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here's the result right in front of us." And add a dash or two of insults. _

_"Aunt Marge." I said trying to be brave._

_"What is it?" I felt everyone's eyes on me and even with his back turned I knew Harry was listening. And though I'm ashamed to admit it, I choked._

_"Could you pass the water please?" I had not felt so ashamed before that point, and I could practically feel Harry's anger filling around the room. _

_"What is it the boy's father did, Petunia?"_

_"Nothing. He didn't-He didn't work. He was unemployed."_

_"And a drunk too no doubt." Aunt Marge barked. __Says the woman who's getting sloshed by brandy._

_"That's a lie." Harry finally spoke._

_"What did you say?" Aunt Marge shouted a glass of brandy in hand._

_"My dad __wasn't__ a drunk!" Harry spun around the next second the glass shattered causing everyone to yelp._

_Everyone knew what had caused it. Well, except Aunt Marge who drunkenly stated "Oh, no, don't fuss Petunia. I have a very firm grip."_

_"I think it's time you went to bed." Father said to Harry._

_"Quiet Vernon." Aunt Marge barked (I think she was only able to speak in either barks or shouts). "You, clean it up." While Harry cleaned up the glass Aunt Marge boisterously continued "Actually, it's nothing to do with the father. It's all to do with the mother. You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there's something wrong with the pup."_

_"Shut up! Shut up!"_

_"Aunt Marge, stop it!" _

_Everyone stared at Harry and me as we were both on our feet and slowly coming closer together, a united front. And this is where you swirl in the wizards and a piping hot cup of temper and you've got the ingredients for a disaster. Aunt Marge, making things worse, pointed her beefy finger towards us and said "Right! Let me tell you…y—y" She stopped when her finger then soon her body started blowing up like a water balloon, sounds included. She called for Father as the bird clock started chirping and Ripper attacked Father, all the while she kept getting bigger and bigger until I thought she would burst. Some of her buttons came undone and hit Dudley scare in the face. Harry and I both backed up and soon we saw Father disappear into the back yard trying to hold onto Aunt Marge until all we heard was both of them screaming. _

_Harry ran upstairs and I tried to follow him but he slammed the door in my face and locked it. "Harry! Harry open the door!"_

_"Go away!"_

_"Harry, I'm sorry for what happened. I really am. I don't know what came over me." I pleaded but silence followed. "Harry, they're my parents and I didn't want them angry at me and-" I sighed. "I know that I'm probably just going to make this worse on both of us if I keep it up but…I want you to know I'm sorry." I hung my head and started trekking to my room when the door opened and Harry pulled me inside. _

_"Tell me why I should believe you when you said nothing to defend me or my parents." Harry asked crossing his arms over his chest._

_I actually felt so guilty that I had to look down at my shoes. "I guess I could say…it's because…I don't want them to stop loving me." I saw Harry's stance change and he let his arms fall to his sides. I started babbling "I see how they treat you. I've even done it myself. That's why I so scared about talking back to them. Now that I'm a witch, I think if I started defending you or try to make them stop, then one day they'll get sick of me and stop loving me." I sniffled a few times and breathed shallowly so that none of the emotions that built up would bubble over. I was prepared for Harry to yell, to shout and tell me not to bother him again. What I didn't expect him to say was "Come here." And he pulled me into a hug where at first I felt apprehensive, but then I allowed myself to hug him back and maybe even let a few tears fall. I felt him rub my back and tell me "Stop crying. Shh. Stop crying." A few minutes later and after I had settled down, Harry even adjusted my blue hair ribbon in a display of affection and told me "Come on. Let's go."_

_"Go? Go where?"_

_"__The Leaky Cauldron__ in London. I've still got some pocket change from my parent's vault, and we can stay there until school starts."_

_Lyra's warning suddenly came to mind. "But, are you sure you want to leave?" _

_"Would you rather stay here?"_

_Exactly seven minutes later Harry and I were taking our luggage downstairs but we were intercepted by Father who shouted "You bring her back! You bring her back now! You put her right!" _

_"No!" Harry yelled defiantly. "She deserved what she got." When Father came after him Harry took out his wand and threatened "Keep away from me."_

_"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school."_

_"Yeah? Try me?"_

_"They won't let you back now. You've nowhere to go."_

_"I don't care. Anywhere's better than here." Harry said moving towards the door with me behind him when Father grabbed my arm. _

_"You're staying here!"_

_"No I'm not! I'm going with Harry!" I have no idea where this bravery came from, but I have the suspicion that it was mostly based on my growing anger._

_"Dahlia Petunia Dursley! I forbid you to go!"_

_"My name is Did!" I shouted angrily and without fear at my parents for once in my life. "I hate the name Dahlia! And I'm a witch and I'm going to school! And if any of you can't handle that then it's your problem!" _

_"Dahlia! That is quite enough!" Mother shouted next, though she looked more fearful than Father did. Whether it was fear of my defiance growing or just plain fear of me, I honestly didn't care. At least that's what I told myself. _

_"Oh really, __Mum__, well maybe you should write it in your next letter. Oh wait! That's right. You never send any!" And with that I slammed the door and angrily walked down the streets with Harry, turning away from my parents for the second time. I could still hear Aunt Marge screaming. It wasn't until we made it to the local playground that we stopped to rest. Sable didn't seem to like being in a cage as she frequently meowed in discomfort. As Harry and I sat down on the curb, I said "Harry, I really am sorry."_

_"It's okay Did. I forgive you." Harry assured me, and no sooner did he do that then the lights from the street lights began to flicker, and I instantly remembered some of those old horror movies that Dudley used to watch without Mother or Father's permission. The wind then picked up and I almost felt myself go blonde at the aspect of being afraid in these settings. Sable gave a long wail of a meow from her cage. As the light flicked the swings moved without any assistance and the merry-go-round started rotating and the seesaw's upper side went down on the ground with a thump, each usually innocent instrument of play covered with water from the rain gave an unbearably frightening creak. _

_That's when the rustling set in soon followed by panting and…there it was – a large black dog with eyes that glowed stark bright even the in the darkness of the evening. With the wind whistling and the overall chill and dimness, if I couldn't hear the sound of the growling I would've sworn that it was merely a shadow – Merlin knows that at that moment I hoped that it was. Unfortunately, Merlin didn't seem to want to agree with me that day and while Sable continued to yowl and even try to bang and scratch her way to freedom from her cage, Harry and I stood up and slowly moved our hands to our wands. When the dog barked we drew ours like lightning but Harry was so shocked that he ended up falling over the curb while I stood straight up due to the fact I couldn't feel my legs. Then a loud and almost obnoxious honking came from our right and what should we find but a triple-decker purple bus gently slowing down until the back walkway was in front of us. There standing on the steps was a young man either eighteen or nineteen and had large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples. In a strong Cockney accent he read from a card "__Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening.__ Oy, put that thin' down o' ou'll poke someone's eye ou'!"_

_"Sorry." I apologized putting my wand back in my sock._

_Stan raised an eyebrow at me. "Funny place to put a wand."_

_"Oh drop it." I snapped, already getting enough of people asking me that. Stan then looked at Harry who was still on the ground. "What you doin' down there?"_

_"I fell over." Harry replied._

_"What'd you fell over for?"_

_"I didn't do it on purpose."_

_"Well, come on, then. Let's not wait for the grass to grow." Harry partially ignored Stan and looked around the bus. Stan and I looked in his direction and I saw that the dog had gone. "What you lookin' at?" Stan asked._

_"Nothing." Harry and I replied in unison._

_"Well, come on, then." Stan said hurriedly and he helped bring our luggage inside while I kept Sable's cage to myself. Stan was a rather funny person since even the way he brought up luggage was comical. Inside the Knight Bus were beds that had wheels and some sleeping wizards occupying them and even a chandelier. Harry, Sable and I (forced by Stan's pushing) moved to a bed in the front of the bus, and received our tickets from Stan who then knocked on the driver's dividing screen. The driver appeared to be an old man with very thick glasses that gave him an owlish look along with his stooping white hair and many wrinkles on his head. "Take 'er away Ern."_

_That's when a shrunken __head__ (excluding a body) declared in a Carribean accent "Yeah, take it away Ernie! It's going to be a bumpy ride." The designated "head" of the bus then started cackling as Ernie took a quick bite of his sandwich and the bus immediately lurched forward when Ernie started driving, forcing Harry and I on our backs and clinging to the bed for dear life. I had no idea any sort of automobile was supposed to go that fast, especially not one that was that tall. And I certainly didn't think that it wasn't supposed to weave through Muggle traffic like a motorcycle without being noticed._

_"What did you say your name was?" Stan asked Harry._

_"Um, Neville Longbottom." I shot a questioning glance at Harry when Stan asked me the same question. Before I could answer Harry answered "Hermione…Longbottom." This time I nudged him in the shoulder with a look of disbelief. Stan asked us where we were going and Harry replied "The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London." I would've been more miffed about being over-spoken but I was too busy holding on the bed posts and Sable's cage, the said cat still trying to get out._

_"Did you 'ear that Ern." Stan asked a bit mockingly. "__The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London.__"_

_The Shrunken Head then said "__The Leaky Cauldron__? Hey, if you have the pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you." _

_"But the Muggles! Can't they see us?" Harry asked._

_"Them!" Stan exclaimed. "_Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffin', they don'. They don' see a nothin', do they?"

"No, but if you jab them with a fork, they feel!" The Shrunken Head started cackling again before it shouted "Ernie! Little old lady at twelve o'clock!" We saw an old Muggle woman crossing the street totally unaware and when Ernie stepped (or rather pulled) the brakes, Harry and I were lurched from our seats and our faces personally met the windows front of center. Harry gave a small cry afterwards and very slowly I adjusted my head and saw that not only had Sable gotten out of her cage but had ended up biting Harry's ankle to keep herself from hitting the wall. I got down and made her let go while the Shrunken Head counted down "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, three-and-a-half…two, one-and-three-quarters…YES!" The lady had crossed and once again the bus lurched throwing my cousin, cat and I on the beds. This time I held Sable to me and even wrapped a leg around the post while the bus continued to swerve in the streets.

"Who is that? That man?" Harry asked pointing at the face of a man on the front of Britain's major newspaper _The Daily Prophet_. This man looked, to put it bluntly, out of his bloody mind. The picture was black and white, so I wasn't able to see everything in detail, but what was there was pretty grotesque. He had a gaunt, sunken face and long matter hair. He looked like a corpse might. In the picture – which like all wizard pictures was moving in the moments it was taken – it appeared that the man was struggling against his bonds a lot and there were guards in the background that were trying to restrain him.

Stan sighed and looked at the front of the Prophet before looking at Harry shocked. "Who is that? Who is…? That is Sirius Black, that is. Don't tell me you've never been hearing of him." We shook our heads. "He's a murdered. Got 'imself locked up in Azkaban for it."

"How did he escape?" I asked.

"Well that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that done it! He was a big supporter of…You-Know-Who. I reckon you've 'eard of 'im."

I looked at Harry's now sullen face at the mention of Voldemort as he replied "Yeah. Him I've heard of."

"Ernie, two double-deckers at twelve o'clock." The Shrunken Head exclaimed. "They're getting closer Ernie. Ernie, they're right on top of us!" Ernie then pulled a few switches both regular and irregular and it felt like time was slowing donw, though I thought that even that was impposible. "Mind your head." The Shrunken Head said as it felt like – no, it really was the bus squishing together and it felt like my body was pressing in on itself. This was how the Knight Bus was able to squeeze in between two double-decker buses. "Hey – hey guys, why the long faces?" A second later – though it felt like hours – the bus reverted back into its normal size, leaving me with a huge headache. The Knight Bus continued on its fast pace out of the highways and byways until Ernie pulled the brakes again, creating a sudden stop that lightly hit the car in front of us, causing its alarm to go off. Harry ended up with his face kissing the window, but I learned from my mistakes and ended up hugging the pole...until I lost my grip and ended up hugging Stan.

Stan gave an unimpressed look. "I kno' I'm good lookin' but there ain' no need to throw you'self at me." I immediately retracted myself and brushed my clothes like I had dirt on it, giving Stan a nasty look before putting Sable back in her cage (the locket being broken from her constant tampering and from being hit against something hard) before going out with Harry on the curb watching the Knight Bus quite literally fly away.

_**And…scene! **_

_**I'm still looking for some actors in the trailer I'm planning for this fanfic. They include:**_

_**Marius…Lyra's brother**_

_**Cassiopeia…Lyra's mother **_

_**Artemis Fowles…Dahlia, Lyra and Ginny's arch rival (the Malfoy to her Harry)**_

_**Arabella Rykers…Fowles subordinate (the Crabbe and Goyle to her Malfoy) **_

_**Please help me to help you…but mostly me. ;)**_

_**Bye!**_


	18. Who Doesn't Want To Kill Harry These Day

**In honor of me watching the very last Harry Potter movie (sadness) I have decided to present this brand new chapter!**

**P.S Can't say "Can't wait to see the next movie" anymore (more sadness)**

**Disclaimer: I own only the lovely and growing Dahlia, or DD, or Did. **

**Enjoy! : )**

* * *

_**Prisoner of Azkaban**_

* * *

**Who Doesn't Want To Kill Harry These Days**

We didn't have to wait long for someone to meet up with us. Soon came in Tom, the landlord and barman of _The Leaky Cauldron_. Tom was quite bald, toothless and comparable to a gummy walnut. He greeted both Harry and I by our correct names and took our things inside using some sort of wandless magic. I also saw him take out some keys and stop the alarm of the car the Knight Bus hit – poor man. I let Sable out of her cage and she followed me in without straying. Talk about loyalty.

"Why did you lie about our names to Shunpike?" I asked Harry as Tom led us through the pub.

"Would you have him holding us up if he knew my name?"

"But then why did you lie about my name, and how about mixing up Hermione's name too? Or should simply just play along and go by Hermione now, _Neville_?"

"Because then he could tie you to me because everyone knows you're my cousin."

"Where have you been? No one cares about Harry Potter's cousin." Before he could interrupt, Tom opened up the door to a room and pushed us both in. Harry noticed a quite familiar white owl perched on a stand. "Hedwig!" The female owl chirped in happiness when she saw Harry, but continued to stare distrustfully at Sable who gave a low hiss. There are just some things even magic can't change, like cats and birds hating each other.

"Right smart bird you've got there Mr. Potter." Tom complimented. "She arrived here just five minutes before yourself."

Someone cleared their throat and there we met the then British Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. He was a portly little man with rumpled grey hair, and he often wore a rather bizarre dress style that included a pinstriped suit, scarlet tie, long black travelling cloak, pointed purple boots and a lime green bowler hat. "As the Minister for Magic, it is my duty to inform you, Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley that Ms. Dursley's father's sister was located a little south of Sheffield, circling a chimney stack." Tom pushed us down into two seats in front of the Minister. He offered us some food but we politely declined. "The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched immediately. She has been properly punctured and her memory modified. She will have no recollection of the incident whatsoever. So that's that…and no harm done. Pea soup?"

"No thank you." Harry and I replied and I could see Harry was starting to sweat. Good, I thought I was the only one. We both knew that we were underage and not allowed to do magic outside of school so it came to mind about what the Minister would do to us as punishment. I imagined that he took away or destroyed our wands, or even, Merlin forbid, send us to Azkaban. All I could think was _I'm too young to go to prison!_

"Um, Minister?" Harry asked getting up the courage to ask.

"Yes?" Fudge replied.

"I don't understand."

"Don't understand what?"

"I broke the law." Harry replied. "Underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic outside of school."

"Well, we broke-"

"No, _we _didn't do anything." Harry hissed at me and I wondered what he was doing. Was he going to take the blame for all of it? To be truthful I wasn't sure if I had a part in it either. I still don't.

"Oh, come now, Harry." Fudge blew off. "The Ministry doesn't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts." Tom started laughing but it sounded like he was a braying donkey. It stopped when the Minister gave him a sharp look. He then returned his attention to the two of us. "On the other hand, running away like that, given the state of things, was very, very irresponsible on both your parts."

"The state of things, sir?" I asked.

"We have a killer on the loose." Fudge replied with a nod.

"Sirius Black, you mean? But what's he got to do with me?" Harry asked.

"Or me?" I asked and Fudge suddenly looked very uncomfortable, but he covered this up with a smile and told us jovially "Nothing of course. You're safe! And that's what matters! And you'll both be on your way back to Hogwarts. Now, uh, these are your new school books. I took the liberty of having them brought here for you both. Now, Tom will show you to your room- oh, not you Ms. Dursley. I wish to have a word with you." I looked at Harry concerned and just shrugged. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Harry called Hedwig but before he left Fudge put in one more word with him. "Oh, by the way, Harry, whilst you're here it would be best if you didn't…wander." When Tom pulled Harry out and closed the door Fudge turned to me and said "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you sir." I said taking my seat and letting Sable rest on my lap, her favorite nap place. "Um, sir? What did you want to talk to me about?"

"No need to be nervous, Mr. Dursley." Fudge assured me but I didn't feel as such. "I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Alright. Shoot."

"Very well. Ms. Dursley, have you noticed any peculiar events and or persons around either Harry or yourself?"

"No, not really-" I then thought about Sable's unusually spastic behavior for the past week. Fudge must've sense it because he asked me to speak. "Well it wasn't a person or thing, it was my cat. You see, she's been acting weird for about a week now. She's really jumpy and acting weird and she never wants to go outside of the house. And that's not normal for her; she only does it when something's wrong. And there's-" I stopped myself from telling him about Lyra's letter or the black dog. The latter because I thought it was irrelevant and the former because I felt like maybe Lyra would get in trouble.

"Ms. Dursley, is there something else?" Fudge asked but I shook my head.

"Sorry, that's all I got."

"No no that's alright. You've helped more than you know. I'll have Tom show you your room."

"Tom? But I thought…?" Out of nowhere Tom came in and took my arm and showed me to my room, Sable following behind us. When he left me to myself, I laid down on my bed and while Sable snuggled herself into my side and thought. Why had my parents let me go so easily? I mean, I knew my parents wouldn't have kept me back because they cared about me (enter the beginnings of teenage moodiness), but I couldn't imagine my father giving up so easily about anything. This was a man who lost his voice for a week because he shouted for three hours straight at a man who got his order wrong at a restaurant (needless to say we were not allowed back). Then when I decided not to think about that then my thoughts drifted to Sirius Black. What was his connection to Harry? (Fudge wasn't that convincing of a liar). Was he the reason Lyra and Sable were so worried? And why did that black dog keep coming back to mind? I didn't want to think about that since tomorrow we would go back to school and the day after that I would spend another birthday on the second day of school. I didn't tell anyone about it since it was a tough time last year and Harry was the only one who knew about it.

And with those thoughts in mind I drifted into a rather fitful sleep.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of cats screeching and something akin to a horrible squeak. I blearily opened my eyes and saw that Sable wasn't there anymore, but when I heard the scratching at the door I saw her trying to get out. I literally rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a loud thump and opened the door just in time for her to run out with some ginger cat chasing a rat. _Hmm, why does that rat look familiar_? I thought, and then resolved _Ron. _Grabbing a jacket I ran out barefoot proud in my pajamas and followed Harry who also heard the noise and soon we heard two very familiar voices arguing.

"I'm warning you Hermione! Keep that bloody beast of your away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cozy! And get that thing away from me!" There was the sound of wooden furniture rubbing against the stone floor and Sable's hissing along with Ron's shouting.

"They're cats Ronald. What do you expect? It's in their nature! And stop trying to hit the poor thing!"

"Cats? Is that what that store owner told you when they gave that away? Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me! Will someone get this bloody thing away from-wait…why does this thing look familiar?"

"Because it's mine." I said drawing the attention of Ron and Hermione towards Harry and me.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione cried in unison, then glared at each other once they realized it.

My eyes shifted to the side, silently thinking, _What am I? Chopped liver?_ I then noticed Ron's foot reel back as if to hit Sable while he kept Scabbers in his arms, and that's when I went at him. I grabbed the closest thing to me – an abandoned umbrella with a broken flap – and ran at him screaming "Ronald Bilius Weasley if you kick my cat I will unleash the wrath of hell upon you!"

"Did calm down!" Ron shouted backing up when I did a practice swing at him. Once I had retrieved my cat in one arm I placed a foot on a nearby chair and raised my umbrella. "Haha! Dahlia Dursley has triumphed again!" I shouted making a pose that looked like a general winning a victory, instead of a eleven (one day short of twelve) year old girl in her pajamas holding a blind cat and a broken umbrella looking utterly ridiculous.

"Um, Did?" A voice asked and I looked over to see Ginny standing there staring at me like I was an idiot, and then her attention was diverted to Harry. She averted her eyes with a blush creeping on her cheeks, and I started to form a grin that could put the Cheshire Cat to shame. I only stopped when the others got a frightened look in their eyes but my smugness still shone through.

"Hey Ginny!" I greeted a bit too loudly before lowering my voice. "What's on your mind?"

"Well for starters, why are you in your pajamas holding an umbrella and your cat? And not that I'm not glad to see you, why are you here?"

I sighed dramatically put down the umbrella and Sable and slung an arm over my friend's shoulders, and then noticed that she got taller. "Well to answer both of your questions, you can thank – or blame – my Aunt Marge and Ron."

"Hey!"

ÐΡÐ

After a quick change of clothing, I got started telling Ginny about how Harry and I (or just one of us, it was never really clarified) blew up our Aunt Marge and how the Minister had actually let us off. I also let her in on how the Minister acted almost too relieved that Harry didn't encounter Sirius Black for some reason (though Ginny just told me I was off my rocker because it was pretty obvious to not want my cousin to have a chat with a notorious mass murderer).

"Ginny, what exactly did Sirius Black do?"

"Heck if I know." Ginny answered my question not so helpfully. "We only heard about it this morning, and when I asked Mum she told me to just put it out of my head 'cause it was none of my concern."

"Well it's got to be pretty bad since the Minister got involved." I then thought about Lyra's warning about Black while Fred and George started bugging run about showing off the picture in _The Daily Prophet_ about the Weasley's in Egypt.

"Uh-oh. I know that look." Ginny said breaking my thoughts.

"What look?" I asked.

"That _Oh-I-just-remembered-something-but-don't-want-to-talk-about-it_ look." Ginny replied. "So what is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I answered and Ginny got that _Ha-ha-I-was-right_ look. "Oh alright." I whispered. "The night before my Aunt came I read your letters and Lyra wrote me that Harry and I should be extremely careful, but she wouldn't say why. Also we saw a black dog before we went on the Knight Bus and something was just...off about it."

"I'm not sure what to make of the dog" Ginny said "but maybe Lyra knew something about Sirius Black and wanted to warn you."

"But if she did then why didn't she just tell me outright."

"I don't know. Maybe you could ask her when we're on the train." Ginny suggested as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came down and crushed both Harry and I in a hug. How she did that when we were two seats away from each other I don't know how.

"Harry! Dahlia! Thank goodness you two are alright!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed and the way she was hugging us I would've thought she meant to strangle us. When she pulled back she looked us both over and asked "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. We're both fine." I answered for the both of us. She fussed with us a bit more – asking if we had our personal belongings and books – before Mr. Weasley took Harry aside and me – being the completely good and trustworthy schoolgirl I was – snuck behind them and hid behind a dark corner and listened in.

"Harry...the Ministry...strongly discourage me..." Mr. Weasley whispered but thankfully I could make out most of it from my hiding-I mean...oh why keep up the pretense. "...from divulging what I'm about to reveal to you. But I think...need to know the facts...grave danger."

"Has this to...Sirius Black?" Harry's reply caught my interest.

"...you know about Sirius Black?"

"...he's escaped...Azkaban."

"Thirteen years...don't say his name..." Mr. Weasley and Harry moved so I quickly and stealthily moved closer and this time I could hear things more clearly. "When you stopped You-Know-Who, Black lost everything. But to this day, he still remains a faithful servant. And in his mind you are the only thing that stands in the way of You-Know-Who returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you."

"And kill me." Harry concluded, and I thought, _Can't we have a time where someone __**doesn't **__want to kill him? First it was Voldemort then his diary and now some loon called Black?_

"Harry, swear to me that whatever you might hear you won't go looking for Black."

"Mr. Weasley...why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?" Another thing that popped in my head after Harry spoke: _Mr. Weasley wouldn't have said that...if there wasn't something worth killing over. _

* * *

**I want to ask you guys a favor. Who is able to do a British accent pretty well and is willing to be the voice of Dahlia in the trailer I am making with a fellow author and YouTube user ****thewondermagicalme****? Anyone? Well, if you want, just PM me or leave it in a review.**


	19. AN

**DO NOT REVIEW FOR THIS!**

Hey guys. I'd like to make a special announcement. Since I know a lot of you want to see scenes from story in a different perspective, I'm going to begin writing outtakes but I need your help. Simply tell me in a review (actually a PM) what you'd like to see in the outtakes and I'll add my own too.


	20. AN 2 PAY ATTENTION

AN

I have good news and bad news.

The bad News: I'm putting this story on permanent hiatus. Now before you get the pitchforks and torches ready, let me tell you why. I felt like a lot of points were either awkward or rushed, especially with the Philosopher's Stone which I feel I could have expanded on. Also Dahlia's change and Lyra's secrets were also rushed which I hate.

This is where the good news comes in: this story will live again. I honestly like the idea of this story, and I feel like I got the name right, so I feel like this deserves a second chance. But I'll need your help. I know there are things you as fans would like to see, so send out suggestions of any characters that you want to keep, or changes that you think are needed.

And as an added bonus, I'll even add a new character created by one of you guys. They can be Muggle, Wizard/Witch, Creature, or whatever. Just fill out the form of characteristics below and paste it in the review of this. Hope to see you again in Dahlia: The Muggleborn Dursley (revamped version)!

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Girl or boy:**

**Physical Characteristics:**

**Personality:**

**Muggle, Wizard, Creature:**

**(if a wizard) House:**

**Any extra notes:**


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